The Loveless
by Beautiful Phantom
Summary: She saved Ciel Phantomhive one day. Wishing to extend his thanks, he sought her out only to discover that they were more alike than what he thought possible.
1. Porcelain Doll

**_The Loveless_**

_She saved Ciel Phantomhive one day. Wishing to extend his thanks, he sought her out only to discover that they were more alike than what he thought possible._

_Crossover: Kuroshitsuji (Black Butler)/InuYasha_

_Canon Universe (CU) in Kuroshitsuji, Alternative Universe (AU) in InuYasha_

_Extra Note: This takes place solely in the _Manga_ version of Kuroshitsuji, sometime after the _Curry_ arc. _

**_Warnings:_**_ character deaths, original characters, possible ooc-ness of the characters, abuses, extreme violence, foul languages, possible racial slur, foreign cultures and languages, satanic rituals, screwed-up religious contents, possible drug uses, possible blood and gores, and more._

In other words, this story will have some very **dark** undertones-all of the warnings will not happen right away and few _may_ not happen in the story however but most will _still_ happen sooner or later. So just to be safe, this will be rated Mature.

_Disclaimer: I do not anything but the plot and any original characters that I created. This disclaimer also applied to the rest of the later chapters as well._

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter One<strong>:  
><em>Porcelain Doll<em>

Chatters of the human voices filled his ears and a young boy sighed. He was tapping his cane against the ground. He was waiting for his butler to finish investigating inside the building. The gentleman was seeking for clues of a murder and the said murder had occurred a day ago. It had deeply worried the Queen. The young master wasn't allowed to enter with him, due to the fragile condition of the old structure. He was, of course, annoyed but he knew it was for the best.

"How long will he take?!" The well-dressed boy hissed out to himself, not wanting to attract attention to himself in the bustling street. He was impatient. Tapping continued.

He was not paying a slightest of attention to his surroundings and missed the warning yell of the runaway carriage. His mind had fled from reality, too focused on the finding of the murder case and who was the murderer. The boy gasped out when a small hand grabbed a sleeve of his jacket, reality made a hard comeback to the mind. The hand dragged him from the wall he was leaning against and pulled the boy aside within an nearby alley.

The trampling howled on the stone road, a torn rein snapped in the air.

His azure eyes widened at the sight of the carriage, narrowly missing him. It chipped the corner of the building, right where he was earlier lending against. He gaped at the sight of the horses freezing, their hooves skidded on the stones, before a tall male. The gentleman had long hair of a vivid shade of orange, lowly gathered within a thin ribbon. The redheaded had a black attire, making the boy realizing he was a butler. Why, the man wore white, fine gloves and a lean chain of gold within the jacket, its' telltale sign of the pocket watch inside the pocket.

"You really should keep better control of the horses, sir. You almost injured a boy! Consider this a good lesson to learn and keep a better eye on these beasts, hm?" The man smiled ever so kindly at the quivering driver that it almost looked quite intimidating. The redheaded gentleman bowed and walked away from the carriage. The young master realized the suited male was approaching _him_.

He had half a mind to look over to his side and blinked at the young girl, her doe eyes blinked at him in return. Her luscious long hair was spilling over her small shoulders with a pale-grey lacy bonnet on her head. Her frilly dress was dark-colored and looked as if it was heavy, even under a rather warm weather (despite the coming cold season). She did not seem to be bothered by the heat. Her skin was scarce but from her face and her tiny fingers that poked out from the gloves, they were rather fair for someone such as she.

She appeared very fragile and very easy to break. Truly did she look like a porcelain doll.

"Ah, young sir, you are not hurt anywhere, are you?" The same man asked, his green eyes seemed to sparkled with mischief.

"N-no."

The man laughed, nodding, "Ah, that's very good to know. Missus is very glad to hear that." He smiled and the boy briefly saw the jewelry he wore. Odd of a butler to be wearing that.

The little girl nodded quietly, and her black, green-eyed cat plush toy was tightened to her chest. She curtsied nimbly to him, before turning her back to leave with the man and vanished beyond the gathering crowd.

"Young master, I've heard a commotion! What happened?" The dark-eyed butler hurriedly appeared, rushing toward his master.

The master glimpsed, his face almost disappointed, "…A girl saved me and I didn't even get her name…Let alone to thank her." To be honest, he was very fascinated by the girl. Why? He didn't know, but somehow he understood her to some extend but what? He did not know either.

"…She has a rare Black Valentine SourBitter Cat with her. Remind me to look up the customer list when we return to the manor, Sebastian." The male of thirteen years declared with authority and the butler nodded, "And please tell me you've found out anything of value as well."

"Yes, I did, sir." Sebastian smiled down to the young earl.

"Then let us go."

An old woman yelled out, "Watch out, you fool! Cursed by a devil's child, you have been!"

Ciel stopped in his track and looked to the woman who already disappeared in the departing, murmuring group of the people, "What was that for? She must be lunatic." He reasoned before resuming his walking.

The little girl he met was definitely out of ordinary, it seemed, and as he was a gentleman, he must thank her properly.

And the only way to do that, was to find out who she is.

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><p>AN: If you want to see any more informative notes from me, they'll be in my profile! So please check them out often, if you can! Next chapters will be longer!

Anyway, **please review**, if you were so kind to do so-I'd love to see what you think of this so far! I'd appreciate it even more if you are able to review most of the future chapters too, if you can!

Until then, enjoy!

(**3/25/13**, to make it flow a whole lot better. New beta helped edited it. **9/28/13**, tweaked.)


	2. Fragile Girl

**Chapter Two:  
><strong>_Fragile Girl _

He sighed; his desk was a mess. The papers were covering most of the rich wood. His visible eye grew tired of scanning over the printed letters and so, he decided to take a break. The young earl stood up from his seat, the finely made chair screeched lowly against the floor behind his knees when it was pushed back. Ciel walked over to a large window, viewing the vast green, still-blooming nature from the beyond.

It was funny. That mere girl who saved him hadn't left his mind for a week since. There was something about her, _something_ that pulled him in. _Something familiar. _It lighted his curiosity. The young master absently fiddled with his family's ring on a thumb, thinking back on what exactly was it that made him feel so about that doll-like child. The one who dressed in total darkness with the darkest colored eyes he had ever seen.

A hawk flew by, gliding in the sky with its large wings, the brown feathers stood out among the pale blue. His eye followed it, until it vanished beyond the horizon. A knock snapped him out from his wandering mind and he looked back, giving a verbal permission to enter his study.

"Ah, young master! I brought your tea and cake." His butler told him with a smile, sliding into the study breezily and set down the silver tray onto the desk. Sebastian immediately organized the cluttering papers. He held up a packet and read over it, "Any luck with the costumer list, young master?" The older male asked, glancing to Ciel. The boy's eye barely moved from the clear glass.

Ciel shook his head in the negative, "No. I realized that whoever brought one of the thirty Black Valentine Cats must have brought it as a gift for someone else... So far, I narrowed it down to five possible costumers." He glimpsed to his butler, "Sebastian, make your pick. I'm planning to go visit them today, since I have no lessons at this moment." Ciel returned to the window, fiddling with his ring once more.

He nodded, despite Ciel wouldn't be able to see it, "Understood, master…Shall we go visit…say, a Mr. Alden Lucius-Higurashi?" The foreign word sounded very odd on the devil's silver tongue to Ciel. When the butler left, he barely reigned in the shudder.

_He always had an answer didn't he?_

**THELOVELESS**

The horse-drawn carriage pulled up to the opened gate of a rather modest mansion, a mere stone throw from London. It was surrounded by protected nature life. "Ah, it seemed like Mr. Lucius-Higurashi must've own a park…or two." Sebastian remarked, helping down the young Earl. He then told the driver to stay put and led the younger male to the mansion.

"If that were true so then he could easily have a bigger home than this." Ciel remarked, his nose wrinkled at the sight of, what seemed to him, a bland home.

"Hm, they did say don't judge a book by its' cover, Master Ciel." Sebastian smiled, "Beside, the manor certainly does have its own charms, doesn't it?" He climbed up the short flight of the stair so to approach the front door. He knocked swiftly, with Ciel standing right behind him, only down a step.

A pause came for a moment before the door was finally opened, "This is the home of Mr. Higurashi. How may I help you?"

Ciel blinked in recognition, "You!"

The figure blinked, "Ah! You're that boy who the young missus saved mere days ago!" His long topknot rust-colored hair glinted from the sunlight, "I assumed you are here to extend your thanks, perhaps? Master Higurashi informed us of visitors, but didn't say who." Sebastian did called, to ask for a quick visit. It'd be rude to not to otherwise.

Ciel nodded, "Yes. I am here for that very reason."

The male smiled, "Understood. May I have your names, at least?"

"My name is Ciel Phantomhive and this is my butler, Sebastian Michealis."

"Phantomhive…? Surely you cannot be the head of the company, Funtom?" The red-haired male was surprised.

"Yes."

The man gave a brilliant smile, "Young missus adored many materials from Funtom, she's rather particular to them." He opened the door wider, "Come in, come in! The young missus is having her tea at the moment. Allow me to inform her of your presence for a brief minute, please." They entered and the man shut the door. The redheaded then bowed to them, signaling them to wait. The strange man turned and briskly disappeared into a room beyond the humble lobby.

"Well, he's an odd butler. I've never seen a butler who dared to wear such jewelries before." Sebastian remarked, "How unprofessional." He added, annoyed. There was a glint into his strained cinnamon-colored eyes.

"Sebastian, is there something off about him?" Ciel frowned, looking up to his servant.

He was about to opened his mouth to speak but was interrupted by the reappearance of the lady's butler, "The young missus is extending the invitation for a cup of tea to both of you. Would you mind accepting her offer?" The man seemed so pleasant and cheerful, even for a butler.

"Not at all. I'd be happy to meet with her." Ciel said and Sebastian nodded in an agreement. The red-haired male again smiled and gestured them to follow.

**THELOVELESS**

They followed the strange man to a room on the floor above. The room was simple, maybe a bit small, but comfortable. It reminded of a reading room, perfect for drinking tea. In the center, there was a round wood table with the tiny girl sipping her tea. She was sitting on a thin, tall chair made of the same material. The girl looked up at the guests, and then she set her eyes down to her teacup.

She seemed to have flushed, her pale skin tinted with smallest amount of redness.

"Please take a seat. I'll pour you both a cup of Lady Earl Tea." The man smiled, gesturing them to the empty chairs kindly. They took their seats and thanked the redheaded butler when he poured their drinks. The girl hadn't spoken a single word to them, merely stroking the Black Valentine Cat on her laps and sipping her cup.

Ciel coughed lightly and decided to introduce himself, "Hello, I'm Earl Ciel Phantomhive. Nice to meet you, madam." He paused briefly, to see if the lady would reply, "I couldn't express enough thanks for saving my life days ago." He gave his hand to the tiny doll-like child. She looked up and stared at it, almost accusing, or perhaps frightened by his forwardness. She set down her eyes again, avoiding their eyes.

"Ehm. Very well then." Ciel placed down his hand back to his laps, unsure of what to take on her behavior, "This is my butler, Sebastian Michealis."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, milady." Sebastian smiled at the black-clad girl, but received no response in return.

Needless to say, it was quite awkward.

The butler sighed, as he moved beside the child, "My apologizes. I'll introduce milady on her behalf. She does not like speak and she like strangers even less so. You must please forgive her for her behavior. This is my lady, the young Kagome Delilah Luscius-Higurashi, the granddaughter of Baron Alden Daichi Luscius-Higurashi." The man blinked suddenly and lowered down his head to the tiny child. After a tiny twitch of her mouth, he straightened up, smoothing out his jacket, "She said it was nice to meet you and much appreciated your creations. She adored the SourBitter and BlackSweet editions the most."

Ciel blinked, he didn't see any kind of gestures that warranted the man to narrate for her, but nodded anyway, "Thank you, Lady Kagome. I'm glad to hear that."

Something large, orange and black slithered in the room seemingly out of nowhere. It went to curl around Kagome's form, rumbling. Ciel choked at the sight of that creature. He couldn't find his voice, as he moved himself from his seat and backed against the closed door with inhumanly speed. Ciel covered his nose and mouth, desperately keeping the allergies at bay.

Sebastian was overjoyed, "Oh, you have a tiger!" He sounded as if he wasn't sure why there was a tiger, but decided that he didn't care.

The man sighed, "Oh dear, look at what you have done, Kirara! You are frightening the guests!" He received only a snort in return. The animal was growling happily with the petting it was bestowed to by Kagome. The girl glowed quietly, childish humor showed in her uncertain eyes. The large cat rumbled like a broken engine, its' great head on the lady's lap. Kagome placed the Black Valentine cat on the table, arranging it as if it was sitting on the edge of the table instead.

Ciel shooed farther away from the animal, opting to take his place in a corner. The girl looked so fearless with the creature, with the paws twice the size of his head, that could easily maul, or kill her! "Why?" It was the only question he could say, with hands on his face.

The redheaded butler blinked before realizing the true wording behind his question, "Oh, because Kirara wished to be here. Milady was neither with nor against her desires. She also provides Lady Kagome friendship and will not harm anyone who has no intention to hurt the little lady." He explained, but the answer was very vague. It was, however, enough.

Ciel nodded, pinning his own butler with a warning glare, "Do not ask, Sebastian. Do **not** ask."

The dark-haired male wilted at that. The green-eyed man blinked, pondering on why Sebastian was disappointed at the child earl's order.

Ciel gave the tiger a wary look before moving on to the form of the tiny girl, "Is there anything I can do for you to return my gratitude for saving my life, Lady Kagome?"

She looked up, her eyes straying at the black cat toy. She looked back to him again. The redheaded butler of hers nodded, already knew of her answer, "If it was not too much trouble, she'd like a companion for her Black Valentine Cat, Damien. In other words, she'd like a White Valentine Cat…Little miss nor Mr. Higurashi was not able to get their hands on that in time. That's all she asked for, if it is not too much trouble." He said, with a contented smile.

Ciel's eye wandered after Kagome, noting her eyes were down casted again. He turned his attention to the still unnamed butler, "That's fine. I'm rather surprised that it was merely a smaller show of my appreciation than I've thought it would be. Are you sure that is all?"

The butler looked at the girl child. He refocused at the boy with an nod, "Yes, she's sure. Just the White Valentine Cat, Mr. Phantomhive."

Ciel nodded, sipping the last of the tea when he felt safe enough to approach the table, "Very well then. If there's nothing else, I'll be taking my leave. I'll return tomorrow in the noon with what you asked for, if that's alright with you." He moved as if to get off the seat but the butler interrupted him.

"Unfortunately, missus had an assignment in the noon. Why not come back in the evening, oh, say," He checked his pocket watch before returning it, "six 'o clock? She won't mind having an evening dinner with you and your butler, sir."

_An assignment? What sort of assignment?_ He wondered but made no movement to press on that curious information. Ciel looked at Sebastian, "Do I have anything of importance that takes up of my time tomorrow?"

The devilish butler shook his head, "No. Nothing of the sort after five, Young Master."

Ciel turned to them, "That'll be fine. We'll be there tomorrow after six, Lady Kagome."

She nodded briefly to them, still petting the giant animal. Its' bright eyes watched them warily. Kagome was still not willing to say a friendly word to them, Ciel realized, but definitely curious of them.

The butler smiled at them, "We'll be happy to see you then, Mr. Phantomhive and Mr. Michealis! I'll see you both out." They then left the forestry area together, leaving the tiny girl there with the tigress and the cat toy as her company.

"…" The Little Lady of the Luscius-Higurashi family shifted to pull out something from her dress and placed them on her table, facing up. There were four tarot cards and the words on them at the bottom she read out loud, "Devil, Tower, and a Fool…" Her voice was tired, "What lies ahead in the future for me and of them?" Despite the frailty of her voice, she sounded childish and very curious.

"You're the Hermit. That much is obvious." The voice echoed and the eyes of the girl drifted to the cat toy of whom she named Damien, "But what about the other three cards?"

"…the Devil is that man in black…That butler…" She hummed, "The Fool is probably that boy, Ciel…He was foolish to trust that man, the Devil, even though it was no more than a smudge of that trust." She shook her head slightly, "And the Tower…I'm not so sure." She paused for a moment to take a break to breathe deeply," I know it was…something that…connected all of us. And there _could_ be more people that are standing on the same bridge." Kagome whispered out, Kirara the tigress rumbled out in discomfort of that sound of uncertainty in the tone. The morbid curiosity of the feline shone in its eyes.

"Whatever it is, I just hope the bridge won't fall with all of us standing on it." The immobile toy stated out, the voice sounded male of young adult age. Its' dull eyes show nothing but lifeless light, as they were only shining jewels.

"Indeed." She agreed, pulling out a box from her dress. The girl glanced at it, and mutely decided she will learn more later. The girl placed the four cards back with the rest within. Kagome then sipped her teacup once more and petting her tiger pet, passing her time in silence.

**THELOVELESS**

Ciel and Sebastian stepped outside with the mysterious butler remaining on the floor of the inside. They both said their farewells and wishing each other a good day. Just as he stepped on the ground from the short flight of stairs, Ciel Phantomhive remembered a question, and turned to the jolly man, "I've completely forgotten. What is your name?"

The red-haired man blinked before breaking out yet another smile, "Oh, my name is Shippou Reynard, the butler of the Luscius-Higurashi Family."

Ciel nodded and thanked him. He left to the carriage that awaited him beyond the gate with his butler behind. Once he left the property and confined within the coach, "What an odd fellow. And an even more odder child!" Ciel commented out, his sole eye watched as the manor grew smaller and smaller the farther the carriage went from outside of the window.

His butler settled on the opposite side and nodded in agreement, "Indeed. Mr. Reynard…He…is not unlike me but not at the same time." Sebastian revealed out, as he was obviously quite fascinated by the girl and her butler. His cinnamon-strained colored eyes sparked with mischief yet with a touch of cruelty, something that warded the young earl when he glanced back to his butler.

"How so?"

A dark smile wormed its' way onto the lips of the devil he was in contracted with, "Do you really like to know, Young Master?"

He decided, "No. I'll find out when the time is right."

Within, Ciel still pondered on how he felt so connected with the tiny girl. That look in her eyes…There was something reflecting off from his own tainted soul…

_Who are you really, the fair little lady who was colored black? Just who are you? _The young Earl pondered, remembering that old crone, "_A Devil's child!" _Her withered old voice exclaimed within his head, causing a great discomfort inside of himself.

As if sensing that uneasiness, Sebastian turned to look at him, "Is there something the matter, Master?"

Keeping his eye on the passing scenery, "It's nothing, nothing at all. Mind your own business, Sebastian."

He nodded, "Yes, milord." The man looked away, too watching the scenery outside.

_Nothing…?_

_I'm nothing! _Ciel was suddenly startled by that voice, _…why am I so loveless? Not even so called God himself will attempt to spare me from the pain and suffering I've been through. Damn Him. Damn them all! I've already been condemned!_

_Why now? Why now of all things?! _Ciel thought, his head started to ache, before he realized something was off…That memory…was partially **not** his. He didn't remember saying he was nothing nor the fact that he was loveless but he did remembered saying those lines after. There was another voice, a feminine one chording to his own. It was the one that said the first part before echoing with him.

Sebastian's eyes shined brightly and the pupils thinned, went unnoticed by his distracted master, as he glared at something _red_ that blurred by.

_You're a weakling, Mr. Reynard, if that is indeed your name._


	3. Broken Words

**Chapter Three:  
><strong>_Broken Words_

Tomorrow came. The Big Ben chimed proudly at noon. The dark-hued carriage was drawn to the front of a large church and a man stepped out. He helped down a small lady dressed purely in black. He turned and looked up to the building, "So this is the famous St. Paul's Cathedral..." He didn't seem to be very impressed by it despite the grandness of the old church.

"Come along, milady." She nodded quietly, with Damien in her arms. She climbed up the stairs steadily, with her butler behind her. The little lady stopped before the large double doors and Shippou quickly opened them, allowing her to enter first. He shut the doors closed behind him and quickly caught up to his lady down in the near-forever long hall. Farther down, the almost-endless rows of benches were woefully empty.

The fluted windows were bright and colorful, its' stained glasses told many tales from the ancient Bible. The girl focused on nothing but to reach the end of the path. The man kept his chin high, ignoring the beauty within the giant church, and were kept in a pace behind his little lady.

The sound of footsteps alerted a man of visitors and he turned, "Ah, have you both to come for a confession?" A priest asked, after he finished praying to a large Jesus Christ statue. He was tired and sweaty. The armpits of his cassock were dark with dampness.

Kagome shook her head to him and pointed to a door from beyond their side. The priest looked confused. Shippou sighed, "We're here for Marybeth Jane Wilson."

The priest was taken back, "Wait, are you the exorcists we hired?!"

They both nodded and the little lady in black showed him the desperate letter they'd send to them. The priest nodded with resignation, "Very well then. Come with me." He was skittish around the girl-child, already knowing who she was.

He led them to a door and into a hall beyond. The hall grew dark and appeared almost akin like dungeons, becoming unlike the beauty they saw earlier. Closer they got to the chosen room, more they could hear the screaming. "Well, this does sound like a demon-possession, alright." Shippou commented out, surprisingly cheerful, despite the horrible screaming. The butler sounded as if he was almost laughing.

The priest breathed heavily, "Yes. It was horrible, that was. Not even the holy power of the church was able to weaken it any nor does it seemed to help the poor child."

Kagome scoffed quietly and the priest heard it, taking in a nervous gulp. _Devil's child, indeed._

"Here we are." They stopped before a door, where the screams were at its' loudest, "Are you sure you can do this?"

Shippou gave him a smile that showed a slow promise of a threat, "Don't doubt milady."

The worn man looked down at the girl, who was staring at the door blankly, and he nodded, "Very well, may God help you." He opened the door and he swore he heard a very low voice that already began to haunt him, "God? What God?" when she went passed him, her butler followed. She sounded almost mocking.

Kagome and Shippou stopped at the sight of a snarling woman, strapped down on a wooden, flimsy chair, with chains surrounding her figure. There were few nuns looking quite frightened, sobbing family members, and exhausted priests. "Why are you here?!" Another priest (much younger looking) demanded out, not realizing they were the very exorcists they hired. One priest (the calmest of the lot and the oldest) did and stopped the priest from ranting at the priest for leading them in, "Father Samuel, enough. We hired them. Do you not recall writing a letter to them?"

"Wait? They are Luscius-Higurashi? Absurd! Why does Mr. Higurashi need to bring a little girl with him if he was going to exorcize the demon from the poor woman?! No child should watch this sort!" The priest quickly assumed that Shippou, the butler, was the exorcist and Kagome was just with him.

The older priest shook his head and Shippou chuckled, "Father, I'm afraid you're sorely wrong on this. Milady is the exorcist! Not I! I'm just her butler."

Father Samuel chocked back a gasp and a man, perhaps the screaming woman's father or husband, screamed out in anger, "Is this a joke?! Her, an exorcist?! I should have known that since you all cannot get rid of the monster inside of my daughter, you would hire a cheap knock-off!"

The priest, the one who had led them inside, shut his eyes, and he knew that the pair was a real deal. How? He just knew and spoke nothing of it, plus he'd heard several unsettling rumors regarding the girl. Father Samuel had agreed with the father of Mary, demanding to let them to deal with the demon themselves. The old priest sighed before he called out with command in his tone, "All of you, be _QUIET_! More anger and resentment will only give this demon more power!"

They all quieted and the only noises there were was the child-woman's screaming from pain and wrath and the nails clawing deep within the wood of the chair. The woman within the father's arms sobbed out, "But Father Richard! She was just a little girl! How can we hope that she can get rid of the demon that was in my baby?!"

"…Can we give her a chance to show us why she was so famous in the world of supernatural and occult alike?" The old priest asked with patience. His bold rosary was glittering from the light from a small window.

Still, the father protested, doubting his words, "She is just a little girl! She doesn't appear any older than eleven years!" He continued to rant, giving everybody in the room a headache, with the mother's attempts to calm her husband down.

Suddenly, two quiet, soft words that were somehow louder than thunder, "_Be quiet_." Kagome breathed out, her now stormy-hued eyes glared at the man, striking a cord in him and the fear festered. Mr. Wilson saw that look in her eyes. Something not normal in any child, something than no _normal_ human should have. He gulped and shut up, protesting no more. His arms around his wife tightened and nestled his face in between her neck, as if to keep himself from looking at the frightful child.

None in the room dared to disobey the girl and they watched the every move she had made.

Footsteps echoed as she slowly approached the crazed woman, strapped down in a chair. Mary seemed like she was having a bad seizure, more and more the closer the child in black went. "**Stay away, stay away! Your presence is unwarranted!"** The demonic voice roared out from the woman's mouth, causing her mother to cry out from fright and whimpered into her husband's arms, rocking.

Kagome almost seemed like she was smiling, though her lips remained a straight line. Damien was now in the arms of her smiling butler. He had chosen to stand back and watched with the audience. She pulled off a black glove from her left hand slowly, the movement was making the possessed woman to screech out and her back arching to a humanly spine-breaking arch. The mother couldn't watch anymore and nestled her face within the cloth of her husband and sobbed louder.

Kagome slowly moved up her now bared left hand and spread out her palm and her fingers, upside down, "For the one who believe in no god, accept this as your repentance, and tell me your name!" Her soft, almost-pathetically weak voice clanged out as there was a golden-white glow suddenly erupted from her outstretched palm. If one chose to take a closer look, upon her hand was a cross mark, side up due to her turned hand, emitting that light.

The demon within the poor woman screeched out, as if from pain, "**_Never!_**"

"So you disobeyed my words then. Perhaps another method will do better." Kagome murmured quietly, pulling down her hand and placing the glove back on. She glanced back to her butler, still standing in the same spot, "Shippou, fetch me a mirror. A big mirror."

"Of course, milady!" Shippou bowed with an arm crossed over his chest. He straightened up and looked at the priests, "Do you have one around here?" He chirped cheerfully.

The priest, the same one that lend them in, nodded, "Well, yes, but…Why do we need it?"

Shippou smiled, "Because she said so. Come and help me." The priest frowned but he nodded anyway. He went out with the butler following him, Damien was left on a shelf with its' glassy eyes watching over everything. The toy bothered everybody greatly but none spoke a single word on how much discomfort it brought them.

Kagome suddenly forced the possessed daughter's head straight up with her gloved left fingers on her forehead and started to circle around the twitching woman, her heels echoing against the wood floor. The demon-woman whimpered and tried to lower her head to avoid the fingernails that dug deeply into the skin. It tried to bite her. Kagome was quick and slapped her right on the forehead, causing the possessed Mary to shriek as the cross was burned into the skin.

Kagome tsk-ed at her, "Bad." She remarked, circling the demon. The said demon kept screaming and whining as the cross, from the slap of the child's left hand, was scathed into the flesh. She was having spasms once more; the chains that connected to the floor creaked loudly from the strength she possessed.

The nuns whimpered and asked to be excused from the room. That child exorcist scared them beyond belief. The priest allowed them to do so but warned them to not pass words around, as it would encourage evil from others. They agreed and they eagerly left.

The older priest, Richard, turned back to watch the child and the possessed, wondering what was going on and what exactly was it that the too-young exorcist had in mind.

"Let play a game, shall we?" The child seemingly smiled again, though her lips still an uncurled line. The demon growled, as it was still whimpering at the pain in the forehead. "I will guess your true name. If I get it wrong, that cross will still burn you. If I get it right…" Mary snarled, whimpering, as it did not like the look that appeared in the child's eyes as she kept circling around the possessed one.

The tap and tap of her heels continues, her fingers never moved from the forehead as Kagome seemed to be in deep thoughts, "Cersil?" Mary hissed. She was howling loudly as the wound burned once more, "Ah, nope…Jezebeth?" It happened again and Kagome heard a cry erupted from the sobbing mother but ignored her, "Hm. Sonneillon?"

Just as Mary went in a screeching fit once more, Shippou and the priest appeared, both carrying a mammoth mirror, its' frame thick, golden, bronze, and whimsy, "Milady! We brought the mirror as you asked!" Shippou was cheerfully, blissfully unaware of the shrieks of the poor demon-possessed Mary, or at least appeared to, as his jade-colored eyes never strayed from his little Lady.

Kagome stopped in her circular path and looked up to her butler and the huffing priest, with the beautiful item in their hands; she nodded in approval, "Set it here." She pointed to the ground in front of Mary. They both did as they were told, with the mirror facing to the poor woman. Kagome looked at the huddling parents, Richard, and Samuel, with the impatience in her eyes. Shippou turned to them, "Please do not look, lest you'd want more nightmares. Turn around or keep your eyes closed." He looked at Richard, "You too, Father."

Hearing the finality in his words, they turned around and kept their eyes closed. "Resist the temptations of the evil, correct?" Father Richard asked, not looking back.

"Something like that sort, yes." The butler replied back, keeping his eyes solely on his lady. His hands were firmly on the frame of the mirror. He told the priest, the one that assisted him, that he could handle the weight by himself and to keep his eyes away from the mirror and Mary. The man compiled.

"Mary, and the devil within, look in the mirror and see thyself." Kagome stated as she forced Mary's head to the magnificent glass, with her hand tangling in her golden curly, damp, and dirty hair. The demon snarled, not wanting to do just that, but the threat of the cross burning made it to obey and looked at the looking glass; "…Vanity allured you, did it not? The beauty of yourself…And the ugliness as well. The souls you had stolen and devoured…Look!" Kagome's small voice smiled as she looked in the mirror with the possessed Mary.

It wasn't long until both the reflection and the appearance of the possessed one soon changed, the repulsiveness forming on the poor Mary's skin, the cruelness festering onto the very flesh. The demon purred as it looked at the image of its' own and reached out to touch the surface, as if to touch itself, no longer bonded down by the chains.

It wasn't long until the flesh of the blood-colored demon reached into the reflection of its' very own, slowly departing the body it once took as it was disappearing into the world of the reflections. The face of the child that was once next to its' head suddenly smiled but it was not very friendly and kind, "Ah…How disgusting you truly are!" Kagome exclaimed out, her voice never rose once as the body of the demon fully disappeared into the mirror, "You truly adore thyself, do you not?"

Kagome smiled again, bitterly, "Now…I know who you are." The demon snapped back to the child who guided it into the mirror, sneering, and quickly tried to escape, the long, ugly fingers barely reached out of the surface to try and strangle Kagome, to shut her up, "_Ornias_!"

The demon shrieked out, its' voice almost shattering everybody's eardrums, as it found itself frozen within the ugly world it was trapped in. Kagome snapped her fingers to her butler and he nodded, obeying her. Suddenly, the mirror glass was shattered into thousands of pieces with a mysterious force of magic, leaving only the salient frame intact. Shippou dropped it from his hands, letting it fall on the floor with a thunderous thud.

He dusted his hands without a second thought.

Now it was eerily quiet. This happened within between fifteen to twenty minutes or perhaps even thirty minutes, much quicker than the three days worth of exorcism the church had tried to get rid of the demon.

"My job here is done. The rest of my payment…you'll send it to me later on today. Do not expect for me to clean up your messes nor will I pay for the damages." Kagome stated out, as she breezed past the shuddering priests and went about her way after plucking her stuffed cat toy from the shelf and took it with her. The butler merely smiled at them before he quickly left after his little lady.

Mary moaned out, her head rolling against the curved back of her chair and saw her parents, her eyes flittering with damp sweat, "Mama? …Papa? What happened?" She felt very hungry and very thirsty. Her throat felt very raw and body very dry, sweaty, tired, and heavy. She didn't know why her head hurts-it hurt so _bad_-there was something still burning on her forehead.

The sobbing mother gasped out and quickly ran after her baby, not very mindful of the broken shards and ignored the pains piercing her though the soles of her old shoes as she grabbed Mary into a hug. The father soon followed after. Both of the priests, Richard and Samuel, gaped at the lack of the looking glass in the frame and at the messes on the floor. The priest, the very one that lend the exorcists in and carried the mirror with the butler, crossed his arms and sighed, "Well, Miss Kagome Luscius-Higurashi…Thank you for freeing Mary." He nodded and grabbed a broom that was lying about on the floor so to clean up the messes, "Richard…I'd highly suggest you send out the payment now. The lady doesn't seem like a patient sort." He told his friend.

The old priest snapped his mouth shut with a click and frowned, "Well, no wonder she was so well sought after. She definitely knows what she was doing." He crossed his arms, watching the sobbing reunion of the family as a priest was removing the chains from the daughter's figure, "But how could she know such things like this when she was only a mere child?"

The priest shrugged, "It's best not to ask. God does things for a reason." He does not say a word about that tiny incident where he heard those words from the tiny granddaughter of Mr. Luscius-Higurashi.

"_God? What God?"_

It was the words of the hopeless, the lost, and the one in despair, yet also of the mocking. The priest, as he was sweeping away the sharp shards, grew to wonder at what exactly had happened to her and then remembering seeing the tiny lines of silver upon her left hand, unnoticeable by everyone but him (he had good eyesight). He glanced at the sharp edges of the broken glass and gulped, _Oh, dear Lord! Had she suffered?_

Suddenly, he did a prayer for her and hope for the best, "Father, Son, and the Holy Ghost, let there be soon peace for that poor child." He whispered quietly, in midst of noises of sobbing, moaning, the shards breaking, and a loud blessing that the rash young priest was casting on Mary.

_Mary, Mary, oh, little Mary had a little lamb!_ There was a silent laughter that none heard.

**THELOVELESS**

Her grandfather returned home at last. He was dancing about around his granddaughter happily and was humming a foreign song that only he and his granddaughter knew the meaning to. Kagome resisted the urge to sigh at the old man's antics, knowing that his phrase will end soon. He always did so when he first came home and it was his way of expressing on how much he missed her when he was gone on a business trip…or anything related.

Predictably, the tall, thin elder moved to take a chair next to her, close to the table Kagome frequently used for sipping her tea and often did her readings on. The old man smiled as he pulled out something from his pocket and set it on the table before her, "My gift to you, o' lovely granddaughter of mine!"

Kagome's eyes lingered on a black teddy bear with a blue patch over a sapphire eye and few set of jewelry, a hat, and bows of the same hue. She then raised a hand and slowly dragged it to her. It vaguely reminded her of that boy she saved, "Do you like it? It's yet another one from Funtom Co.! It's called BlueMint Sugar Bear!" He smiled brilliantly.

She did. She loved it, in fact. Kagome squeezed it in her arms, already loving the feel of the textures. The old man grinned, knowing how she felt about it, "Oh, great! I'm glad!"

Damien, as it was setting on an edge of the table, watched and remained immobile.

The door opened and Shippou entered with the silver with the items his mistress and her grandfather's requested earlier, "Ah! Master Alden! Kagome received another gift from you?" Mr. Higurashi nodded happily and the butler smiled, "That's wonderful! Lady Kagome does seem to enjoy her present very much!"

Mr. Higurashi grinned, "I have few more too!"

"Oh? I believed that the little lady already received plenty from you, sir." Shippou laughed as he set down the tray on the table, placing each plate with a slice of vanilla cake in front of them, smiling.

"Hahah! I don't mind, plus I do like spoiling my lovely Kagome very much. She doesn't mind it, at all. If she ever gets annoyed, well, I'll keep giving gifts to her anyway!" The old baron boasted out cheerfully, "Ah, let me get the rest of the presents from my room! I'll be back in a moment!" With a speed that no elderly should hope to have, he was gone.

Shippou blinked, he then shook his head, "Ah, your grandfather is erratic as always, milady." Kagome just cut in a piece of her slice and moved to devour it. The bear remained in her arms and the butler's eyes wander to it, "Ah, what are you going to name it?"

Kagome cocked her head as her fork stopped in midair, thinking before nodding to herself, "Hecate." The fork moved again.

"Strange name, but as always, it's a good name!" Shippou praised on her decision joyfully, with a handsome smile on his lips. Kagome merely ate few more pieces of her cake, ignoring his presence.

Her grandfather returned with what seemed like clothes folded over his arms, "I've returned, my love!" He exclaimed dramatically, his aged eyes twinkling. He ran quickly to his granddaughter, with Kirara the tigress behind him. Kirara was bored and decided to demand attention from her young mistress and went about to curl around her once more. "I got you three outfits! They are still new and only one of a kind!" After making sure to push the teacup, its' saucer, and the plate with her unfinished cake away (with quiet protestation of her interrupted snack), he carefully laid the odd outfit on the table with two others stacked underneath. Damien was momentary forgotten at its' place but its' voided green eyes still watched everything.

Kagome, with Hecate on her lap with Kirara's head, touched the first dress and felt the silky fabric. It was black with odd red print-pattern akin greatly to blood spatters and resembling a lot like a noble daughter's outfit in London. The skirt was bell-shaped and had layers of laces underneath, not unlike some of the everyday fashion as well. But different than most of the little girls' fashions she knew of, it had bellowing sleeves and a Japanese obi, reminding her of her Japanese heritage. It was an outfit mixed between England's preferred fashions and a royal Japanese Kimono.

She perked up. That was a sign that she liked it, at least the look of it. That was all of the encouragement Mr. Higurashi needed, "Ah! Wonderful, wonderful! One of my seamstresses made those in her spare time, with you in mind. She had quite a fondness for you. Ah, but she had no intention to sell them though, saying she just wanted to make something unique for you and you only. Isn't that awfully nice of her? Anyway, I think she called them _Wa Lolita_ or something the like." He mused, "Such an odd name."

Kagome nodded with Shippou curiously looked over to the odd but fascinating outfits. She then looked at the other two dresses. One was white with black rose prints, twining all over with a black sash and black laces and linings. Other was white with blue and black butterflies scattering all over with a blue obi, black laces and linings. All in all, they were quite beautiful.

Shippou agreed, "Would you like me to assist you putting one on, milady? We do have guests coming over after all and I'm sure Mr. Higurashi would love to see you with one on too."

She nodded quietly, choosing to wear the one with black roses. She stood up as her grandfather asked out, "Guests?"

"I'll explain after she places on the outfit, sir." Shippou told him as he gathered up all of the outfits, two to go in a dresser and one to be worn.

Mr. Higurashi nodded, "Oh, all right. Shoo then. I want to see my lovely child in that pretty dress!"

Kagome left out of the room with her butler behind her, leaving the older man and the tigress behind. Kirara slithered to him, chuffing loudly, wanting attention and he happily bestowed her with it. Mr. Higurashi laughed, patting her head like a dog, "Well, Kirara, you still looked beautiful as ever!" He ignored the deep stares Damien was sending him. Mr. Higurashi didn't bother with his granddaughter's preferred, yet bizarre, company, regardless if it was a living toy or something else entirely as long they'd serve no harm to his sole light of his life.

Otherwise…

Kirara rumbled under his lavishing attention, her tail twitched cheerfully. A short time went by and the door opened once more. He looked back and he gaped. There in all of her youthful grandeur, Kagome shyly stood with her new rose-scattered printed outfit forming on her small, doll-like figure. Her white stockings were adorned with a pair of her black boots upon her dainty feet.

She curtsied before her elderly, bobbing her head, now adorned with a white and black bow that sat cutely on her head. She straightened up, watching quietly as her grandfather was clapping his hands in glee, "Beautiful, Kagome, beautiful! You looked fantastic in this!" He praised loudly and gleefully, his dark blue eyes sparkled.

Shippou, who stood behind her, agreed, a smile slithered on its way to his face.

"Thank you, Grandfather." She murmured quietly. He didn't bother to correct her on her slacking speech, knowing it'd be fruitless and that he didn't care. He smiled brilliantly, "I'd be sure to inform the seamstress to make some more! I'm thinking of promoting her anyway!"

Kirara rumbled as she switched her target of demanding the attention from and pranced its' way to her mistress, chuffing again. Kagome bend a little to pet her before walking her way to her seat. The she-beast followed. She dragged the plate with her cake on it over to her and went ahead to finish it, ignoring the adult men as they chatted but with her ears open to their words.

"Why are we having guests then?" Mr. Higurashi inquired from the butler.

"Ah, they are merely wishing to thank milady for saving Mr. Phantomhive's life some days ago." Shippou replied as he fixed to fill up his superior's teacups. The stream flew from the teapot as the hot liquid hissed out.

"Oh? Wait…did you say Phantomhive?" He blinked in surprise and Shippou swore he saw something streaking across the old eyes. "As in Funtom?"

"Yes, Mr. Higurashi." The redheaded butler nodded as he placed back the teapot onto the tray.

"Silly me, so that was who called in! I've completely forgotten!" Shippou nodded, smiling at his old master's antics. The white-haired man was laughing at himself.

When the laughter abided, Alden's face brightened, "Interesting!" He looked back to his granddaughter and smiled at her. She looked up and she looked down again, devouring the last of her cake. "I think I'll stay to meet them, if that's alright." Kagome merely nodded. She didn't have a problem with it. There was really no need to ask that question, since it was also his home as well, therefore he's staying regardless.

He sipped his tea, pondering on some things. "Oh, how did your assignment go?"

Shippou looked up, "Oh, it went smoothly." Kagome nodded in return.

"Ah, but this is the seventh one this month." Mr. Higurashi murmured out, worry in his tone.

"So it is. We don't know whether if this is a coincidence or if there's something more to it." He calmly stated as he picked up the empty plate that his little missus finished the cake off from. He quietly asked her if there's anything she needed or desired but he received a negative in return.

"Hm…Please be careful, my little precious Kagome. My old heart can't take it if something happened to you, all right?" Mr. Higurashi smiled sadly at his adorable granddaughter.

"Okay, Grandfather, I'll try." She spoke quietly, stroking her pet. Kagome cocked her head, "Do you want a reading for today, Grandfather?"

He smiled, "Of course." Kagome then pulled out a stack of cards as the butler stood by and watched. A small smile he had was sharp and chilling yet sad at the same time, as he await for the arrival of the youthful Earl and his own devilish butler.

He silently checked his pocket watch and realized that they had an hour to go before then.


	4. Curious Boy

**Chapter Four:****  
><strong>_Curious Boy_

The horses snorted as they pulled up in the front of the modest home of that little girl. Sebastian stepped out quickly and helped down his young master. He then gave an instruction to the driver and the driver nodded and said he will return in an hour. The driver cracked the horses with a whip and yelled. The beasts, obeying, moved away from the property, leaving the pair behind.

Ciel scowled when his butler gave him a secretive smile. Somehow, Sebastian had gotten an idea in his mind that Ciel may like this Kagome Luscius-Higurashi slightly more than an acquaintance. After all, he dressed a little more engaging than usual, especially since it was only a dinner. Honestly, was he not allowed to make his own fashion choices?

The little girl did save him from being trampled in half after all.

Sebastian knocked on the door and wait for someone to open the door. It opened immediately by the Higurashi's butler, the smile large and cheerful upon his face, "Welcome!"

The intriguing sapphire-emerald earrings gleamed from under the light, as they noticed that Shippou had indeed neatened himself up. His long hair was in up-knot, rather than its earlier low ponytail, and he made sure that most of his fringe were away from his face. This new fashion choice made his earrings more visible than usual.

The redheaded butler allowed them inside and led them to the diner room, where the young girl awaited.

"Ah, here we are." Shippou smiled, as he opened the door and allowed the pair to enter before him. Ciel blinked at the sight of Kagome sitting at an end of a long table, looking quite dainty. Sitting right next to her was a tall, thin elderly man with long precisely combed white hair in a low ponytail. His pressed dark-colored suit made him look younger than he really was. Ciel absently noted that he was not of English origin, but instead from Eastern.

The old man looked at them, cold curiosity shone through his aged eyes, as he was raking his trimmed silver goatee thoughtfully. He stood up and approached them, his hand out to him for a handshake, "Pleasure to meet you, Mr. Phantomhive. I've heard many things about you. I'm Mr. Alden Lusicus-Higurashi, my darling Kagome's grandfather." That chilling, thoughtful look was gone from his face, only to be replaced by a cheerful look, similar to what Shippou often employed.

"It is very nice to meet you, Mr. Luscius-Higurashi." Ciel politely accepted his hand and shook it.

The old baron shook his head, "Oh, no. Luscius-Higurashi is rather mouthful at times, so I'd insist you call me whatever you feel comfortable with, Mr. Phantomhive." He smiled as he let go of the smaller hand.

"Alright then, Mr. Higurashi." He nodded, just as the old man turned to his butler.

"Ah, you're Mr. Michealis, the butler, correct?" Ciel thought Mr. Higurashi had a cold look in his eyes but it vanished so quickly that he thought he must have imagined it.

Sebastian smiled warmly as he nodded, "Yes, but as I'm a mere butler before someone of high-ranking, it'd be more proper to call me something less formal, Mr. Higurashi." The old man had rather strong grip for his age, he thought, when he finally released him from the shaking.

"I understand." The old baron smiled so warmly, the grandfatherly nature finally came to him. Ciel felt all fuzzy at that as all young children, no matter how damned they were, would under a loving grandparent. Pity he never had one, as all of his own grandsires died before he was born.

Mr. Higurashi then quickly hustled them to their seats, Ciel sat right next to his quiet granddaughter and his butler sat next to him (though Sebastian protested and insisted he'd stand, as he was of lower-ranking. The baron had none of it and forced him to take a seat, as to avoid to being rude to their host-Ciel agreed.). Ciel took a full glance at the tiny child and wondered on her new odd outfit.

He never saw that type of clothing before and the closest he ever saw to it was a Chinese kimono that a certain someone took a liking to wear on special occasions. It looked very good on Kagome and he complimented her on that, as a gentleman should.

She seemed to flinch at that slightly but otherwise remained quiet. Her skin again flushed with pale red. Her eyes were down casted to the table to were her cat toy sat.

Of which it reminded him...

"Ah!" Ciel gestured to his butler to give him something from a bag Sebastian had with him. The older man obeyed, pulling out an item from it, and handed it over to his young master, "Ms. Higurashi, I've gotten you a gift." Ciel showed her a white cat, a total opposite to the one that sat in front of its owner in colors.

Kagome perked up after she glanced to the item.

"I ordered a swift production on this one, since it was no longer in the making. The newest and the final White Valentine Cat, for you." Ciel hummed, watching the small girl closely for reaction.

Kagome shifted somewhat before she picked up a hand that was once on her lap and reached over to pick up her newest addition to her collection. The Funtom's owner was utterly surprised when the girl actually spoke to him, "Thank you." Her voice was hard to hear, being as it was very low and weak, yet her grandfather beamed at that. The redness of her skin turned few shades darker.

"That's a surprise." Shippou commented out, at which Ciel had to look up, "How so?"

"Well, I did tell you that she was not very fond of strangers, did I not? It would take _months_ for someone to hear the little miss to actually speak. This was the fastest response I've ever heard from her to someone she was only in acquaintance with." The red-haired butler explained.

Mr. Higurashi was giddy; he got up and hugged Kagome like a plush animal, squealing in a foreign language to her. Kagome was slightly annoyed but otherwise blank-faced, only seemingly interested in the newest toy she had been gifted with. She placed it next to her black cat and compared it. She ignored the arms that surrounded her as doing so.

Ciel and Sebastian blinked at the old man's antics. Shippou merely let out a sheepish chuckle. "Is this the norm of Mr. Higurashi?" Sebastian asked.

"Yes. He's very devoted to milady. Mr. Higurashi always tried to get her to open up but she was always quite…" There the foxy butler seemed to struggle to find a perfect word, "_unapproachable_ at times, preferring her companions, often Kirara, than to meet with friends and strangers." He enlightened. Ciel shuddered at the fact that they had a _tiger_ as a pet in their home.

He quickly scanned around the room to see if that animal was nearby. So far he hadn't seen any tail or fur from her. He was thankful that that huge cat didn't bother to show up or was put up elsewhere, otherwise his allergies would act up.

"May I ask why she was so…unapproachable?" Sebastian was curious. His master was too, but wasn't sure it was something to ask. The old baron didn't seem to be listening, his squealing most likely blocked his hearing from doing so. The girl still stared at her new gift with rapt interests instead of paying attention to everything that occurred around her. She seemed very oblivious to the fact that the old man was practically squeezing the life out of her in her seat.

Shippou gave them a cold smile, "I should get to the meals. Please pardon me." He completely avoided the question into the favor of serving them their dinner. He bowed to them then he quickly disappeared beyond the door, his tailcoat whipped soundly into the air into his rush.

Sebastian's bright eyes narrowed with curiosity at the fact of the male's quick avoidance to his question.

Ciel frowned, glancing at the tiny child and wondered at any reason why she was so…'_unapproachable'_, as her servant put it. He didn't really think her like so, just assumed she was rather shy or perhaps she was mute. He only met her, he could not judge until he knows more.

Now that he thought about it…Her eyes were always down. Her face was literally impassive. Her body language were often about avoidance.

And she reminded him of himself…

Ciel's eyes widened a notch and wondered if there's something in her life that made her to be that way. But as it was their first meeting and possibly the last they will ever encounter each other again, he can't judge.

But oh how he hated being curious.

The old baron finished squealing over his granddaughter and went back to his seat, a huge smile on his weathered old face, "I must thank you, Mr. Phantomhive! I'd never seen my darling to be so taken to someone so quickly!"

"Ah…I don't think I deserved it, Mr. Higurashi. Perhaps it was just over the Cat I gave her in return for saving my life the other day." He coolly stated.

Sebastian smiled, "Ah, so modest. Perhaps she took a liking to you, Young Master."

Mr. Higurashi nodded in agreement, "Yes, yes, that must be it! She never had taken to anyone that _quickly_!"

"Ah…If you insist, Mr. Higurashi."

"Oh, no. You can call me Grandfather, if you like. Everyone younger than me usually does and I don't mind." He encouraged.

"I think it'd be better to be formal."

The baron shrugged, the smile still plastered on his face, "So…Anything you like to discuss about? Kagome is sure to listen in but she won't say a word into anything, I don't think."

Sebastian had few questions, "I'm curious about the young miss' age, if I'm not intruding on anything…She looks awfully young yet she behaves mature for her age, albeit rather quiet."

"Ah, she recently turned twelve. Her birthday is in December, the sixteenth." The old man answered cheerfully.

Ciel blinked at that, it was two days after his own birthday! Sebastian was also fascinated at that fact and made it known, "Ah, Young Master's birthday is a mere two days before that!"

"Isn't that very interesting, Kagome-chan?!" The grandfather exclaimed out to his soundless granddaughter. Kagome merely nodded in response, her eyes still lingered on her newest plush toy. It was totally opposite of her black one. What was blue on Damien was green on the white one, including the eyes.

"Kagome-_chan_?" Ciel blinked at that foreign saying.

"Oh, it's just an affectionate way to call them as your cute one, I supposed. You see, I was born in Japan and my granddaughter is part Japanese, so our culture is slightly different from what you usually see today, with the other nobles." Mr. Higurashi explained. He still had a huge smile on his face.

"Ah." Ciel nodded; it was a very interesting information. No wonder the young girl was such a beauty-hardly anyone would have such a luscious black hair, dark colored eyes, or very fair skin as hers. Japanese women were known very well for their petite beauty for hundreds of years.

However, there were some traits not associated often with her Asian heritage; such as the color of her eyes, which were very dark blue (_though it's hard to tell at times but if one looks closely enough…he'd thought it dark gray or even black_), which were a rare find in any of those with Japanese blood running through their veins, and her curling hair where most had only straightest of hair.

She was still quite a beauty. He looked away and listened in the chat between the old man and the surprisingly talkative Sebastian. Some he was amused at, others he was already bored of. Most of the time they were talking about him, Kagome, on their hobbies and such.

He was surprised that Kagome would give a reading, a _tarot_ reading, to people that asks nicely enough. Ciel mused over the fact that _maybe_ he can ask sometime, just for the curiosity's sake. The old baron actually ran many of local and chain stores and markets, especially in foods and fashion.

He then decided to join in the conversation, asking business questions, always making sure to take a glance at Kagome when he could.

Shippou appeared with cart filled with food and drinks, apologizing for the slight delay. He swiftly set up the meals on the table. He then filled each of the plate with the food of their requests and filled their cups. Shippou stood back with the cart, smiling.

They said their gratitude to him before they went to savor the meals. Kagome was quiet and carefully took a bite at a time. Ciel realized that the meal was pretty good, something definitely a match to Sebastian's cooking. An inhumanly match that is. As he ate, he grew to wonder if there is indeed something very off about this tiny family in the small manor.

Time passes in silence as they completed their dinners and it was time for dessert.

"Ah, this is Raspberry White Chocolate Angel Food! I sincerely hope you enjoy it!" Shippou exclaimed, after he finished serving each of the member their dessert. Kagome was first to dig in, slowly and dexterously, with a small bite at a time. She definitely seemed to be fond of this sweet. Ciel and Sebastian agreed, both liking the taste of this cake (then again, it was hard to tell exactly on how Sebastian felt about it). Mr. Higurashi smiled and praised Shippou for his wonderful meals he served them.

In mid of halfway finishing his cake, Ciel heard a commotion outside and stopped, "What's going on?"

Mr. Higurashi scowled when he recognized a screaming woman's voice and stood up from his seat, chucking down his napkin on his plate angrily, "That cursed woman! Does she not know the meaning of not being welcome?!"

He stormed out of the diner room. Shippou frowned and turned to follow the older man. Ciel and Sebastian looked at each other and found their curiosity to be greater than their patience to wait it out, and stood up to follow. Ciel looked back and saw Kagome frowning, plucking the pair of her Cats off from the table and settled them on her lap.

She hugged the pair, looking very lost and unsure.

He didn't want know-he didn't know her. Ciel looked away and trailed behind his butler as they went out of the door.

Kagome looked up, seeing only empty spaces, and released a heavy sigh.

"What a cruel woman she is, my little lady." Damien spoke out, sympathy in its' masculine tone.

"So she is." The nameless White Cat agreed; her voice feminine and soulless, "That woman does not deserve to exist."

"Yes, Lilith, I very much agreed with you." The Black Cat stated out. Kagome's frown went deeper. She pushed back her chair and got up, and followed everyone's lead with both of her Cats in her hands.

**THELOVELESS**

Ciel and Sebastian stopped a staircase as Shippou and Mr. Higurashi raced toward the intruder. There was a blond woman struggling against the tall, rough-looking male whose hair color is equally as rough and odd. She shouted, angrily demanding, "Let me go! I need to see her!"

"Oh, yeah? To beat her into her death? Back off, lady! You ain't welcome here, and you know it!" The pale-haired male complained, as he twisted the lady's arms into her back, painfully, to keep her from struggling against him farther. There was a snarling long-furred black dog standing beside him, looking so much like a wolf hunger for lunch.

The woman snarled, "You fool! Don't you know that she bring curses?!" When she made an eye contact with Kagome few feet away, she glared. Kagome flinched. Ciel saw and his lips slightly curled to down, unsure of what was going on.

Mr. Higurashi ran to her , grabbed her upper arms and thrust her violently out of the door, "Don't you dare to call my lovely child a curse! Kikyou! Sic her!" The dog barked, obeying the master, and bolted out of the manor to chase her off the property. The woman screeched out from the fright and ran to the door to outside. She threw it open and raced to the awaiting carriage beyond the gate, with the dog nipping on her heels.

The animal stopped before the gate, barking feverishly at the runaway carriage, thick white drools easily flowing from the teeth. The dog soon calmed and trekked back to the home when it was sure that the trespasser was gone. "You're a good girl, Kikyou." The pale-haired man cooed when he kneeled before her and petted her affectionately. The huge black dog wagged her short, stub-like tail as the attention was bestowing down to her.

"Yash, what happened? How did she get in?" The old baron was unhappy and he wanted answers.

The rugged male frowned (_he had a red bandana over his head, _Ciel noted), "I was working on clearing out some bad weeds when I saw her breaking in, boss." He gestured to a broken window, irritated.

Mr. Higurashi nodded, frowning, "Good job, Yash. Shippou, see to it that Kagome's okay."

"Yes, sir." The red-haired male bowed to him, turned to the staircase, and climbed up the stair slowly and steadily. Weight was noticeably showed on his shoulders.

On that name, Ciel looked next to him and blinked when her presence was gone, absent. He snapped his head upward and saw her disappearing in the darkness in a hallway upstair, "My, my, was that a little harsh, Mr. Higurashi? Sending a dog after her?" Sebastian commented out, not moving from his position next to his young master. He found it absolutely hilarious.

Mr. Higurashi looked up, a deep frown on his face, "I'm so sorry that the good mood was shattered. That woman wouldn't stop-so the hard lesson was needed." He then walked up the stair when he saw that Shippou was gone to where Kagome had disappeared to.

"Who was she?" Ciel couldn't help but to ask.

"…No one of the importance, Mr. Phantomhive." The old man stated. He then checked the grandfather clock close to them, "Oh, isn't almost time for you two to go home?"

Sebastian nodded, "Ah, so it is! May we at least bid our farewells to the little miss? I'm sure that Master will like that." Ciel blanched at that and glared at him. Sebastian merely smiled.

"Ah, I'll lead you there. Yash, please go back to work. I'll make sure that Shippou will serve you your dinner in a moment." Mr. Higurashi called out to the man down below.

"'Course, boss." He complied and called for Kikyou to follow him back outside. The animal obeyed and pranced with a proud gait behind him.

The baron of Higurashi gestured the pair to follow him as he lead them to a room where he was sure Kagome was in, "Ah, here we are." They stopped before a closed door in a hall. Mr. Higurashi knocked on the door, "Kagome? Mr. Phantomhive and Mr. Michealis would like to bide their farewells to you."

Ciel swore he heard something odd before the old man knocked the door. He waited to see Kagome, making sure to remember to share this tad bit of information with Sebastian when they're back to their carriage.

The door opened and Shippou stood between the doorways with the knob in his hand, "If you pardon the…_mess_, milady wouldn't mind seeing you off." He moved out of the way and gestured the pair to enter the room. Ciel gaped at the sight of his products, his _creations_, his _plush animals he created within his company_, were _every-_bloody_-where_. The huge Sourbear was backed against a corner to the tiniest SpicyMint mouse perching on a shelf against a wall. They practically swallowed the entire walls of the room (_though they are actually organized and not exactly a mess like the butler referred it as, at least he was kind enough to try and warn them_).

"Wow, it seemed that the young miss is quite a collector, Young Master." Sebastian commented out. Ciel mutely nodded. He had heard of collectors, but never would he think that Kagome actually collected practically every single thing he had ever made (_except the porcelain dolls and anything that resembled humans, _he realized).

"Well, yes, Kagome adores the stuffed animals." Mr. Higurashi stated out as he walked past them and sat before Kagome. Her tiger curled around her on the canopy bed with the cloth suspended so to not conceal her from their views. Kirara growled, looking directly at them, with Kagome's fingers raking throughout her bright, striped fur. The child's dark eyes watched them wearily.

"Ah, ehm, it was very nice of you to invite us over for the dinner, Miss Higurashi. Thank you." Ciel bowed to the little lady. The tiger purred in the response for its' mistress, the tail swishing from the bedside. Kagome nodded before setting her head on the animal, her Cats laid in a heap on a corner of the bed. They were almost disguised by the suspended cloth.

Sebastian bowed to her too, told her how nice it was of them to invite the duo over for dinner and that dinner was delicious. He twitched, wanting to pet the tiger so badly when he saw her yawned _cutely, __with the tongue rolled back and giant fangs gleaming_. He wished he were in Kagome's place, to be able cuddle up with her so _freely_.

"Sebastian, we're leaving now." He snapped back to the reality when he heard Ciel's voice and realized that he was now following Mr. Higurashi, leaving the butler behind. He looked back sadly at the tiger before went to catch up to his young master.

"Looks like he is very fond of tigers, it seems." Shippou sniggered, watching him vanishing from his view.

"…" Kagome had the tiger's large head on her lap with her face in her furs, "…Why are they so cruel?" She said nothing more. Her shoulders staggered.

Shippou closed his eyes, "I know, milady. I know…" He sighed.

**THELOVELESS**

Mr. Higurashi bided them farewell when their carriage left the property. Ciel shifted in his stiff seat and looking outside again, "Did you catch the rest of what that man says before we entered Ms. Higurashi's room?"

From the opposite side of the carriage, Sebastian looked at Ciel and nodded, "Yes. He was saying, _'I'm sorry, milady, but I'll see to it that she'll realize what a true curse is_.'"

"This is getting more curious by the second, Sebastian. That girl is…" Ciel wasn't sure of what to call her but Sebastian chipped in, "Mystifying?"

Ciel glared at him, "Yes, she's quite puzzling."

Sebastian chuckled, "Well, we won't solve that puzzle for a good while. You're a very busy master after all."

"Tis' a pity…Don't you find her perplexing as well?"

"Of course. Her soul…is something I'd like to savor as well. I'm sure you'll be very interested to know that the there are many cracks in her soul. Just like yours." Sebastian smiled darkly.

Ciel's eyes grew wide and he snapped to him, "You don't mean…"

The demonic butler refused to say anymore, his smile still dark and sharp.


	5. Magic Tricks

**Chapter Five:  
><strong>_Magic Tricks_

Time came and went. Many things happened since. That puzzling girl faded from his mind, since he was swamped with studying, paperwork, and completing missions to ease the Queen's worries. Needlessly to say, he was a very busy earl.

The frown deepened as Ciel's mind wandered to the current case he was on. There was another murder done by the infamous **Beholder**. Beholder's killing sprees were made famous when a nobleman, who was rather close to the Queen herself, was murdered and had his eyes taken out, possibly as the trophies, some weeks ago. It was unknown how long the killer had been taking lives, could be years or could be recent. Either way, the Queen wanted that killer stopped, at any cost.

The reason why the people called the murderer Beholder was because he always took out the eyes of those who he killed. A play on the _Eyes of the Beholder_.

There were no exact preference (_not that they knew of any, because all of the victims were different in ages, appearances, and genders. They also varied wildly in classes as well)_ nor any motive as of why Beholder killed. Only logical reasoning they knew of was that the killer was mad in the head and possibly had a liking to the 'pretty' eyes.

His latest victims were two siblings who moved from a distant country and were working hard to settle in. One was an older sister and another, a younger brother. They died from strangulation, with a piano wire around their necks. It was easy to tell that they were both knocked out, most likely, a heavy rock to their heads, were dragged to a vacated lot, strangled, and had their eyes ripped out. With the eyes the murderer wanted, he abandoned the bodies for someone to find.

An older woman found them and ran to alert the Yard detectives. When they realized that it was the Beholder's doings, they hesitantly handed the case over to Earl Phantomhive on the Queen's order. The Yard hadn't any luck and were already under the scorn of the Queen's court.

The siblings were seventeenth and eighteenth victims they knew so far.

A bump of the carriage took him out of his thoughts and he looked out of the window. Absently, the boy realized he was getting closer to the crime scene in a street of the East End of London.

A familiar face startled him when he saw her walking on a sidewalk, entertaining a group of younger children and followed by a tall, shrouded woman. However it wasn't her, not if she's actually a boy in disguise. She wouldn't appear in this sort of area…Right?

"Master…Is there something the matter?" Sebastian asked when he saw him looking out of the back window, as if to keep something in his view. Ciel suddenly snapped back to his original position, as if he hadn't done a thing, "Nothing. Nothing at all."

'_That's not her. That's not Kagome Higurashi…Right?'_

_"Baa baa black sheep, have you any wool?  
><em>

_Yes sir, yes sir, three bags full!_

_One for the master, one for the dame,_

_And one for the little boy who lives down the lane."_

**THELOVELESS**

"Mister Magician! Show us another one!" A small boy laughed, tugging on the older male's tailcoat. The older boy quietly nodded, his face unchanging, as he tugged on his white gloves. He then showed the children the inside of his sleeves, "_Nothing up in my sleeves but a hello._" He told them, his voice low. He unexpectedly clapped his hands and the single stemmed flower appeared.

The kids went _ohh-ing_ at that and he handed over the flower to a little girl with a cheerful, gap-toothed smile, "A pretty flower for a pretty girl." He hummed. The girl squealed and giggled with a blush as she took it and gave the young male a bigger smile, "T-t-thank-k y-you!"

"Another one!" Someone yelled out and rest of the children chorused out in an agreement.

The quiet male nodded once more and pulled out a stack of cards. He then spread the cards out, like a fan, and gestured a boy to pick one out. The kid pulled one out and blinked when he realized it was one of the tarot cards he had heard about. The boy then showed that card to the magician.

The taller male nodded, pocketing the stack of cards back into his jacket, and plucked the single card from the young child. He then showed the children the card, "Star?" A boy murmured out, before the magician was putting it right on a palm of his hand and clapped it with another hand. Children squealed in surprise and delight when they realized the card disappeared when he showed them his hands.

"Where did it go, Mister Cyrus?" Someone asked.

Cyrus raised a pointer finger, silently telling them to be patient before he patted on a shoulder of the boy, with the hand that earlier pulled out the card. The boy cocked his head in confusion when Cyrus' hand went the behind of the collar of the shirt. He gaped out when he realized that Cyrus was pulling out the card from his shirt, "How-w did that get there?!"

Cyrus showed the card to the children again and received their affirmations on that it was the same card, "It's magic." He answered.

"Mila-ehh…Cyrus! We need to get going!" The woman, wrapped in a large gray blanket, called out as she watched the entire thing.

Cyrus looked up and nodded, pocketing the flat item back into a pocket. He turned to the group of the children and tipped his top hat to them. He turned around and walked to the woman, absently patting the head of the girl with a sunny smile on the way

"Take care, children! We'll come back soon!" The woman grinned at the children, waving to them. The group of the children groaned in disappointment when they realized that their mister magician was leaving but they waved cheerfully at the departing pair anyway.

The girl giggled when she fiddled with the bright flower, "B-bye, Mister Magician! T-th-thank you-u for the flower!"

"Wow, Mister Blaine sure is quiet but he sure does have some nice tricks!" A boy stated out.

"Yeah, his older sister, Camellia, sure is pretty too." Another commented out.

"Quite too bad that she was very sickly though…" Someone else remarked out.

"Hey, do you think that the ghosts will go after them tonight?" A young girl asked out sadly.

"Yeah, probably. Mister Cyrus is the younger brother and Miss Camellia is the older sister…It'd make sense they'd go after them."

"B-but R-Rin h-heard that the p-pa-ehh-b-boss h-hired the…ex-cori-sts?" The little girl with the flower wondered aloud.

"Yeah, but the last one failed so how can we hope that the next one will get rid of them?"

"Geez…They had been dead for what? A week? Two? One would think they'll be easy to get rid of…"

"Poor Bobby and Lillian…I hope they'll be okay."

The girl with the flower frowned sadly, at the thought of her friends being in a hospital, but a determined look appeared on her adorable face, "R-rin will g-go and w-warn them-m!" Without letting her friends to say a word, she bolted after to where the magical siblings have gone.

"Rina!" A boy hollered out, to try to stop her. He then huffed out when the youngest girl was already gone.

"Not like it would do that much good anyway. But I'd give her points for trying."

"Dumb Rina."

**THELOVELESS**

Rin caught up to Cyrus and Camellia just as they entered an alley. Just before she can speak up, she saw Cyrus taking off his hat and shook his head to let all of the long hair fall back to the shoulder, "Milady, how would we go about this?"

"…" Cyrus cocked his head and shrugged. Rin hid behind a trash can and eavesdropped. She didn't like the fact that Cyrus was deceiving them but her kind heart prevented her from lashing out, telling her that she'll need to listen first before making any judgment. She was too curious. "…Wait. They'll attack us real soon. When that happens, I'll simply pave a way for them to go to their afterlife."

'Afterlife? …What do they mean by that?' The girl wondered as she kept eavesdropping.

"Hmm…Well, you're the exorcist so…" The woman, who is supposed to be Camellia, trailed off.

Rin stifled a gasp, _They're the ex-or-cists the boss hired_?! She moved a little closer to the trash can.

"But, milady! Why do I have to play a role of your older sister?! A woman, of all things!" The 'woman' wailed out, "This is so degrading! And may I inform you that those shoes are horrible for walking!" 'She' screeched out as 'she' was showing the black heel to 'Cyrus'.

'Cyrus' snorted, the voice came out whispery, "Because of our height differences, of course. It'd too obvious if we switched our roles to the proper genders. If people claimed that the ghosts only attack older sister-younger brother group then…"

The 'woman' wailed in despair, "I know, milady, I know…But this is still cruel. I'm a man! Not a woman!"

"And you still looked pretty feminine as a man." The supposed magician commented out as she (Rin realized that with that long, pretty hair, there's no way Cyrus can be a real boy so it's a she) pulled out a chocolate lollipop and unwrapped it. She put it in her mouth, ignoring another wail from the crossdresser. Rin yelped out when she realized that she was found.

The long-haired girl was throwing away the wrapper into the trash can when she saw the child with a sunny smile. Rin was shaky, thinking that she was going to get hurt or get bullied, and let out a whimper. The tall girl cocked her head as she pulled out something from her jacket.

Rin shut her eyes tightly, thinking it was a weapon, a gun maybe, and whimpered out.

"You'll keep this a secret if I give you this, right?"

"Huh?" Rin opened one brown eye and saw that it was a chocolate lollipop, hovering in front of her face, like the one the older girl had in her mouth. It made by the famous Funtom Company.

"…Uh huh!" Rin gladly accepted the treat and unwrapped it. She quickly placed it in her mouth happily.

"Okay- off you go then." The girl hustled her away from alley and back to her friends. Rin saw Camellia, or whoever the man was, was on the ground, looking defeated. He was clearly embarrassed of having a witness, "Will the m-m-mister woman be okay?" She asked.

"…I have no idea." The girl shrugged. She doesn't looked too concerned for the man.

"Okay then!" Rina giggled, "…So you're m-m-making the g-ghosts to g-go away?" She asked in between the licks of her candy.

The older girl nodded, "Something like that…Go back to your friends. If you actually keep this a secret the whole time we're here, I'll give you another candy when we're done, okay?"

Rin perked up, "Okay! Bye!" The small girl of what looked to be seven years ran off, chewing on her treat.

The girl turned to the 'mister woman' on the ground and sighed noiselessly, "Shippou…You're pathetic."

She then stuffed her hair into her hat as she placed it back on, "I think I'll go and see how those ghosts have supposedly died." The small lady stated out as she patted her outfit down. She readjusted her long, blue-plaid pants a little, as she wasn't used to wearing the coarse brand. She walked out of the alley, to visit wherever the crime scene was.

Shippou, still disguised as a woman, suddenly stumbled to get up and hurried after his little lady. He quietly griped about the footwear he had on.

He was still very surprised that Kagome actually had spoken more than two words to that little girl.

**THELOVELESS**

Rin hummed out a happy song when she was returning to her friends, cheerfully licking her newest sweet. One blinked, "Where did you get that candy?" He seemed jealous of that fact.

Between the slurps of her lollipop, "Mis–_slurps_-ter Cyr –_slurps_-us gave it to –_slurps_- me for being –_slurps_- nice!"

Each of the members in the small group wished they'd left with her to get some candies too…

**THELOVELESS**

Ciel's lips were in a firm line when he realized this is, indeed, another work of the Beholder, "Am I free to assume that the bodies are in the hand of an undertaker right now?"

"Yes, sir." A detective told him, as he handed over the case file to him. Like all of the detectives in the Yard, he was disgruntled that a little boy was taking over their case. If the Queen tells them that she wants her Watchdogs to do it, then they have no choice but to obey Her.

"Hmm…Any evidences you found pointed to who had done it?"

"No, not that we can see."

Ciel nodded and looked up to his butler, "Sebastian. The Undertaker might have something for us."

"Please excuse us." Sebastian bowed to the detective before escorting him back to the carriage.

"It had been some weeks since the victims died, so without a doubt, some evidences had been lost." Ciel reasoned, with disapproval in his tone.

Sebastian nodded, "Perhaps the Undertaker might have something for us this time."

Just as Ciel was about to get in the carriage, someone stopped him, "Excuse me, sir!" It was the same tall woman with a large blanket wrapped around her form and her head, making it hard to see the face, "Any chance that those two poor people are our dear friends, Sango and Kohaku Watanbe?"

She sounded mournful. Ciel frowned, unsure whether if he should tell her or not. There was a boy behind the woman. He was the same boy Ciel saw playing with the children from the street earlier and he indeed did looked too much like the young Lady Higurashi…

For some reason, Sebastian sniggered but made no effort to say anything. Ciel wondered why but he just shrugged it off.

Ciel released a sigh, "Yes, I'm afraid they were."

The woman nodded with a sad sigh, "I see. Come along, Cyrus. There's no need to keep fretting over them anymore." Cyrus glanced at him and went to pull something out from his jacket. Ciel blinked when the boy thrust something to him.

"Eh? What's this?" He took it and his butler and he looked at it. "Star?" He murmured out incredulously and when he looked up, they were gone. Ciel frowned, looking at the card once more, "This is a tarot card…"

"I knew it. That Cyrus fellow is the Lady Higurashi. Her grandfather bragged about her tarot card reading ability." Ciel stated, "She almost had me fooled."

Sebastian nodded, "It is her."

"And that woman?" At that, Sebastian sniggered. "Sebastian!"

"That woman wasn't a woman at all! It was the lady's butler!" Sebastian chortled out, trying his best to keep in most of the chuckles.

"…" Ciel stared at him incredulously, "Really?"

"Heheh, yes. It is him."

"…He'd make a very convincing woman, that one." Ciel was amused. The feeling soon vanished when he looked at the card, "But what's with the card? Why were they here?"

"May I have a look at this card, young Master?" Sebastian asked and Ciel was kind enough to hand it over to him. He took a closer look, "Hm, it's just a prediction, but perhaps the little miss had an inkling of who the killer is…Star…Hmm…That word can hold many meanings. What's the common meaning to you, Master?"

Ciel got in the carriage, after noticing several people looking at them strangely and gestured his butler to do the same. He flopped down on the seat and crossed his arms, "Well, for one, the stars in the sky, of course."

Sebastian, still holding the card, sat down on the opposite seat after shutting the door, "Any other?"

"…" Ciel thought more on it before his eyes grew wide in realization, snapping his fingers, "…! We haven't looked in the entertainers! The star-it can also mean the people who were well known for their talents!"

Sebastian nodded, "Exactly. I'll look into it after we visit the undertaker. Hopefully he'll have something for us."

Ciel placed a finger on his chin, "Now that I think about it, it'd explain the killer's choice of weapon -the piano wire- and all of the victims did went to a place of some form of entertainment right before their deaths…The idiots didn't think to look into that."

"Hm…And to think that a simple card would get us a good lead."

"And exactly why were the Lady Higurashi and her butler be around here anyway?" The young Earl wondered. It was obvious that that question would be bothering Ciel, at least until he's able to get his answers he wanted. Damn his curiosity.

**THELOVELESS**

Shippou, still under a guise of a woman, sneezed several times before muttering out about ungrateful ladies. It followed by a long whine of despair. Kagome twitched, highly tempted to _do_ something to the man.

"Would you please stop your crying, ya dumb butler?!" Something screeched from inside of her tailcoat. Kagome blinked and an idea formed. She pulled out Damien, one of her Cat companions, and tossed it at her butler's head. Damien roared, no longer lifeless, and proceeded to chomp on the offender's head with surprisingly sharp teeth that materialized from its' plushy mouth.

The noises gained an attention, "That was harsh..." Lilith sighed, as she was poking her white head out from a pocket to watch the battle between the male and the frustrated black cat. She was laughing when the butler grabbed him from his wigs. Shippou ended the bickering by chucking the plush over to the ground, looking as if he already went through hell.

"…Now stop your whining, you ungrateful beast!" Damien stated hotly as he went scurrying back to the proper owner. He climbed on the clothes and went to share the same pocket with Lilith.

Shippou muttered something unintelligible as he fixed his disguise. Kagome was looking somewhat amused, "Now that's entertainment." Her shoulders trembled as she sat down on a flimsy box. The alley was dark.

The man stopped his whining, knowing it was upsetting his lady so he tried to think of something to take his mind off of those horrible shoes he was wearing, "So…We wait?"

"We wait."

**THELOVELESS**

"I see. So… same as the former bodies then?" Ciel muttered out, disgruntled. Both Sebastian and Ciel ignored the crackling from the resident maniac, the Undertaker, "Same as the rest! Quite a pity if you ask me."

"Well, the good news is that we have a new lead." Sebastian hummed. The Undertaker perked up, with curiosity.

"True." Ciel wrinkled his nose. He never did like this somber, ugly place with an odor that reeked of death and something rotting. "Let's leave now, Seb-" He was interrupted.

"Hold up! You got a lead? Ooooh oooh! Do tell me!" The pale-haired male grinned, lusting for that new tad bit of information.

Ciel narrowed his eye at him with suspicion, "What do we get out of this?"

The undertaker wriggled, frowning, "You are driving a hard bargain. Fine, the next time you visit, I won't make you to pay me back." He hugged himself, pouting, "What a loss of a good laugh…Now tell me!"

Ciel bit back a sneer and gestured his butler to show him the card, "An…acquaintance of ours gave us this and we remembered the…overlooked." The Undertaker blinked as he took the card before gasping out, "Ah! So you met Kagome Higurashi already then!"

Both males blinked at that, "You know her?" Sebastian asked as he took back the card.

"Oh, yes. She's quite a darling. She's a big help to the deaths." The scarred faced man smiled at them. He suddenly pushed them out of his building, not allowing them to have a chance to ask what he meant. "Tah tah! You should be getting back to your duties, hm?" The undertaker slammed the door on their faces.

"Rude…" Sebastian managed out bitterly.

Ciel muttered about something under his breath, dusting himself, "I highly doubt he'll tell us either way."

The butler nodded, "You're right but…This is very curious, don't you think, young Master?" He looked down to the younger boy. The master gave a grunt. This was a first time they found out that the undertaker had a connection to the reapers. Now they thought about it, it would make sense in many ways.

"Let get back to the manor and look in the possible suspects. The sooner we get this is over with, the sooner we can figure out who exactly Lady Kagome is." The Earl mumbled out as he turned and walked to the carriage.

"Of course, milord." He bowed.

**THELOVELESS**

Night fell, coating the sky like a heavy blanket. Kagome, still under the guise as Cyrus the local magician, gestured her butler. His appearance was still Cyrus' sickly older sister, Camellia, to follow her out of the alley. He complied, now shadowing her.

They were going out in public now, to get the attention of the ghosts that supposedly attack the brother and sister pair.

In other words, they were baiting them.

There were very few, if not no one else out during the night. Even the usual night lurkers seemed absent from the dimly lit streets. There were the only ones out there in that still nightmare-inducing silence. It was something definitely not for the faint of hearts.

Minutes ticked by as they stood under the lamppost. The disguised butler couldn't stay still, though the pseudo-magician gave no sign of being annoyed, as one would. A moth floated by, obviously attracted to the light.

Kagome pulled her hat down a little lower, already feeling uncomfortable, very quickly, "Something…Someone is coming." She predicted.

The moth suddenly fell to the hard, solid ground with a tiny thumping sound. It only twitched slightly once before becoming still. Shippou noticed that it actually had what looked like an ice tint to it and realized that the air of the midwinter night, though was supposedly cool for the day, had suddenly became very cold. Shippou bit back a shudder when he received goose bumps on his skin.

"Sango and Kohaku Watanbe…What grudge do you hold that kept you back from walking on the path of the afterlife?" Kagome announced to the still bitter-cold air.

Shippou stepped back, almost fumbling on those heels he so much hated, as he allowed his lady to do the work she need to do. He was prepared to protect her should the need arise. After all, the murdered spirits were known to get violent without being provoked. His keen eyes saw a thin outline of…something. Two of them. One was tall, other was short.

He blinked quickly when the outline finally became more structured but he wasn't surprised. He was used to the appearances that some spirits usually possessed.

It was definitely those two that were brutally murdered several weeks back, the siblings- Sango and Kohaku Watanbe. Only now, their appearances were different from when they were alive and vivid with life. If anything, they possessed the look from when they were dead and far worse.

They were dirty. Their skin and rags of clothes were bloody. Their necks had a thin line of blood coated. And their eyes…They had none -their eye sockets voided and dark.

The taller female, presumably Sango, let out a strangled gurgle. Kagome frowned, realizing that she couldn't speak, not when her neck prevented her from doing so. Even in their ghostly forms the markings and bruising around the soft tissue between their collarbones and jaws were still a deep shade of black and purple. Whoever murdered them sure went overkill with the strangulation-The weapon the killer used most likely penetrated extremely deep into the victims' skin and severed all the way to the bone.

"…Not good. Without voices or the sight, they couldn't either see or speak. Because of this, they cannot acknowledge the path of the afterlife. And they are easy targets for the rouge devils…"

"Ahh…We flee then." Shippou muttered out absently.

"Yes. We flee." Shippou immediately grabbed his mistress into his arms before Sango was able to swipe the tiny pseudo-magician's head off with a shriveled-up clawed hand. Sango let out a loud, sharp yet strangled hiss when she only grabbed empty air.

Though she couldn't see them, she can hear their feet escaping. She knew they weren't the true family, nonetheless they were the only ones that were out there in the street where they were murdered. She felt a hand shakily grabbed a hold of her own and knew it was her brother. She missed her eyes that were stolen from her. She wanted to see him, her little brother.

Soon, they will find their murderer and take back what belonged to them.

**THELOVELESS**

"It doesn't make sense, milady. If they do not have their eyes then how were they able to find their victims? They **_were_** humans after all. " Shippou frowned, after he placed her down on the floor inside of a house. The butler, somehow, managed to run in those heels, which Kagome found somewhat hilarious. He opened a window of a certain building and entered.

They knew that the owner wouldn't mind at all though. He was the one that hired them in the first place. He'd want reports. However he was sleeping, or so the butler claimed, and they merely used that time to discuss on what to do with the ghosts that couldn't speak nor to see.

Kagome plopped down on a stuffy love-seat and set her booted feet on the coffee table, acting as if she missed his question, while Shippou took a chair across from her. He took off the annoying heels and folded the blanket he used to wrap himself up in. He set it on the coffee table and placed his wig on top of it. Shippou gave a miffed glance at her feet on the wood furniture but spoke nothing of it.

Kagome couldn't be a lady if she was acting as a local boy with magical talents. It made sense to him that she was doing what a common boy would do. Practice makes perfect.

"Hm. It'd make exorcising them more difficult." Kagome sighed at this newfound dilemma, now wishing that she had an opportunity to look at their bodies before encountering their spirits. She couldn't do a thing, especially when neither she nor her butler has any legal right or reasoning to be in the crime scene. They didn't have any power either, or barely any. Kagome was only a baroness after all.

"Well, how do we go about this?" Shippou questioned her as he placed on his tailcoat that the hirer was kind enough to hang it up on a nearby coat rack for him. At least he doesn't have to 'dress up' like his lady had done. All he had to do was to make himself _look_ like a woman, so he merely swapped on the heels to make himself look slender, a convincing wig, and a blanket to hide his male figure. While he wasn't pleased with that role, he understood the reasoning behind it.

"…To find their murderer. Letting them have their revenge might be the best solution." The pseudo-magician mused, unsure with the only solution. Her Cats wriggled out of her pockets, their lifeless yet diamond-like eyes shone under the candlelight the taller male had lighted.

"Why would you think that?" It did not seem like it was a best solution to him, as revenge usually was a horrible way to make amends and a very good way to get into the hell.

"As cold and selfish as this sounded, it was the only way I can think of to get them to see their path to their afterlife. Even if it is to hell." Kagome glanced outside of the window, "We were hired to get rid of the ghosts from the living plane, Shippou. So that's what we need to do, regardless of what'll happen to them." She absently held one of her Cats and fingering the silky textures.

Shippou nodded, understanding her logic. "Ah. I only have one question, milady. May I ask?"

Kagome looked back to him, gesturing him to go on ahead.

"How was it that they find their victims without their eyes? Sight is the primary sense of humans..."

Kagome shrugged, "I heard from Mister Toutousai that they used to be a part of a highly secretive family from Japan. And from the look of it, they were probably trained well with all of their five senses. It is possible."

Lilith cocked her head in a strange alien curiosity, "So…they're ninjas?"

"If they're ninjas then how come they got killed so easily?" Damien stated as he plopped himself on his owner's leg, his large bow sticking out from his back.

Kagome looked back to the window, "Perhaps they got caught by surprise. Again, it's possible. We may never know."

Shippou nodded, "I see- so we need to find that murderer then. And I'm sure you already know who it was..."

Kagome shook her head, "No, I don't. All we need to do is to guide the spirits to that murderer, whoever he is. Finding him is Mr. Phantomhive's job. I just merely pointed him a way." Tarot cards told her who it might be and even then she had no clear idea of who this murderer is.

Her butler nodded but had to wonder why she had chosen to help out a total stranger, regardless of the facts that they already knew his name and his face. She wasn't the sort to offer help so freely, without much of a struggle. So this Shippou found strange. Perhaps she's finally warming up to other people? Unlikely but it's possible.

"Ah, you two! Got anything new?" A man appeared into the small living room, with a bathrobe and a candleholder. His hair was in disarray, showing that he had just woken up. Their voices must not have been quiet enough.

"Yes, Mr. Duane." Shippou stood up and greeted him. Out of proper respect of her temporary employer, Kagome set down her feet from the table slowly as she eyed his movement. She quickly clammed up and allowed her butler to do the talking for her, as she let him to interact with Mr. Duane.

Mr. Duane was a tall, somewhat muscular man and barely looked a day over his 30s. He was a struggling working-class man whose air that demanded respect from the people that worked with him, despite his rank. He was a foreman of building structures and while the money seemed to be enough to last a single man or a couple a good while, it simply couldn't catch up with his large family.

Despite his rough and intimating looks, he adores children. And his wife, ill-weakened and fragile she may be, was the same as well. They couldn't help but to take in orphaned children. They do have a child of their own, a little girl, Kagome heard, not yet seven years old. Beside from their daughter, they had six orphaned children under their care. Four boys, and two girls. Two were almost old enough to be adults, two teenagers, and two still children.

Kagome could tell that he was genuine and this was why she had more respect for him than she would most of her employers. He reminded her of her own father. Nonetheless, she wasn't willing to open her mouth around him.

"I see. So you two run in a bit of problem then? I hope you can overcome this, Mr. Reynard. I really don't want this to end up like the last exorcists I've hired. I barely have enough money as it is…" Exhaustion was overwhelming, "Those ghosts harmed two of my children." Mr. Duane frowned. With Bobby and Carrie, two of his children, being injured by those very spirits, and the last exorcists that failed, he barely had enough money to pay for their services. After this, he'd have to work harder, possibly to death, to take care of his family and take care of the pending debts.

Before the incident, he wasn't a believer of supernatural-but seeing his children in somewhat critical conditions-he had no choice but do so, seeking out any way to get rid of the spirits before they could hurt anyone else.

"Don't worry, Mr. Duane, I'm sure milady will take care of this. She hasn't failed yet. So have hope." Shippou smiled brightly. Mr. Duane nodded, hesitantly. He didn't really trust the fact that a little girl, not yet a teenager, was an exorcist. He had heard so many things about her duties in recent months from few of his underground acquaintances, so he had to hire her service.

He simply couldn't understand how a well-known priest and a church failed where that little girl succeeded though. It's starting to look more and more that godly recites and other holy things really had nothing to do with exorcisms. Nonetheless, as long the ghosts will be no longer around to harm any more of his children or any others then he wouldn't care about that fact.

"Well, what are you going to do now, Mr. Reynard and Lady Higurashi?" The man asked, still remaining in his spot in the doorway before the dimly lit room.

Shippou was about to open his mouth when someone interrupted them, "Pap-boss? What i-is the b-b-boss doing up?" Tiny voice echoed from behind Mr. Duane.

"Oh! Rina!" Mr. Duane looked back, "What are you doing out of your bed? Should you be sleeping, my little one?" Kagome wasn't watching him, her eyes intended on remaining on that coffin table, but she could hear a small hurt in his tone. Ah, so that girl she encountered earlier today was his daughter yet she wasn't calling him 'Papa' or any other affectionate names. She was sure that was what caused that bit of hurt inside of him.

"Because you w-were noisy-y, b-boss…" Rin murmured as she rubbed her eyes, a hand holding a paw of a ratty teddy bear that was dangling helplessly in the air.

"Oh, I'm sorry, my little one. I'm just talking to friends here…" Mr. Duane smiled as he knelt before her.

"F-f-friends? W-who?" Curious, she peeked over her father's shoulder and blinked, "Oh! M-mister wo-oman!"

Shippou's soul died, "Oh, no! You have me mistaken for someone else, little miss!" He feebly tried to explain, but the determined, honest look from the girl had him faltered. Honestly, why were so many children so hard to convince these days?

Kagome kept her mirth in, taking notes of this for future use, just so she can have something against her butler later on. Childish, yes, but she's still a child. Her eyes unfocused on them, but her ears were still listening, as she pretended she wasn't paying attention-she knew that little girl couldn't see her, as she wasn't even in the room yet.

Her Cat companions both played dead, lying boneless on her laps. One of her hands, without her realizing it, petted Lilith's faux fur and fingered her silk bows as she listened in some more attempts of Shippou's trying to claim that he wasn't the same person that Rina thought she saw.

Mr. Duane stood up, keeping his mirth in, trying to hide his smirk by coughing weakly in his fisted hand. His daughter was always rather difficult to convince; it usually take a lot of cajoling before she caved in.

He knew about the butler's woman disguise-in fact-it was he who suggested it in the first place-though he meant to ask the little lady to bring a woman who understood her line of work instead of her butler. Her butler was so obviously male. He remembered vaguely on how the young exorcist gave a strange look to her clueless butler, as if she had the greatest of ideas just pop into her pretty head.

Shippou frowned.

Rina eyed him before plowing her way inside the room, pushing the red-haired male away rudely, "I-is the nice girl t-t-there wi-with you?"

Kagome didn't bother to move her head when the tiny girl spotted her, "Cy-yrus-s!" She ran up to her, giving her a biggest, sunniest gap-toothed smile she can offer, "T-thank-k y-you f-for the c-cand-dy!"

Kagome shrugged it off.

"How did you meet my friends, little Rina?" Her father couldn't help but to ask.

"_How did you get this scar, my little one?" _

Kagome pierced her eyes together, trying to shake away that forlorn memory, keeping in the blooming tears. It was quickly growing into a headache she doesn't need. The headache was proving so intense that she knew she'll pass out fairly soon so she tried to fight back. She hated how random the depression pick a trigger to hit. It was always so hard to keep in an emotion from showing, thus the headache.

"Cyru-us-s? Are you ok-kay?"

"…" She glanced at the worried look of Shippou, "I think it's time for bed for me." She whispered out under her breath, meant only for her butler's highly sensitive ears, "We'll go over what we'll need to do tomorrow." Kagome quickly fell unconscious onto the couch, her headache finally proved a little too much for her.

"Yes, milady." He ignored the concerned looks from the father and his daughter as he went over to his lady's lax form to gather her up in his arms. After making sure she was secured safely and with her two toys tucked into her jacket pockets, he looked back to the pair, "It's very late -all of us should be sleeping. We'll see you tomorrow, Mr. Duane and young miss. We'll be at the inn nearby should you need us." He flashed them a gentle smile as he approached to the front door, opened it and disappeared into the night beyond.

Mr. Duane walked out to look for them but couldn't find either hair or hide of them. He frowned, entering back inside and shut the door. He returned to his now starry-eyed daughter, noting of the abandoned items on his coffin table-showing that they are real. His mind was so skeptical that he somehow thought he was dreaming-surely, no little girl can be an exorcist at that age.

"Papa!" It was the first time in a long while that she had last called him that-his heart swelled at that-she looked up to him, "Cyrus-"

"Her name is Kagome, dear heart." He smiled fondly as he corrected her-she nodded eagerly.

"Kagome-I want her to be my big sister!" She hadn't shuttered once when she said it.

Mr. Duane blinked at that before a smile settled on his lips once more, "Well, you can ask her, dear heart-but now, let get you in your bed, hm?"


	6. Final Performance

**Chapter Six:  
><strong>_Final Performance_

The sky was pale, as the sun was high when Ciel managed to track down a place that the victims last visited. It took some coaxing with some of the witnesses, who wanted nothing to do with the Queen's Watchdog, to tell them where it was. With Sebastian's infamous threatening smile, they caved and confessed.

"So this is the place? Seems a little…rundown, Young Master." The butler disapproved, as he helped down the youthful Earl from the carriage. His cinnamon-stained eyes glanced at the lopped sign, 'Red Lion Theatre', in distaste.

"Hm, so it is -now though, we just need to find the killer. If he is a well-known musician, then why would he be in a place like this?" Ciel pondered, making his way to the entrance. His butler followed and entered with him -they were stopped by a large man who demanded payment and Sebastian paid. His master was too proud to pay a filthy man and had his nose up in the air.

They both walked down in the hallway and both could hear music getting louder closer they got. It was mostly done by a piano but they could hear a violin, bass, and several others.

"Ah, perhaps it was just to get noticed?" The butler analyzed, entering in a rather large open-ceiling room with the young boy.

Ciel scanned around in the large audience, mostly of lower classes, and his eye landed on the musicians on the stage. While it was mostly for the plays, as most theaters were for, it was also for people who merely just want to hear the music itself. Oftentimes, it was cheaper too, which makes it easy for even a poor man to get in.

Most of the musicians looked, well, sophisticated, which suggested they were higher-classed than their audience. "Let's find out which one were Ethan King, Noah Norward, and Daniel Whitmore, hm?"

They managed to get onto the backstage and waited for their performance to end. They wished to interview the three suspects-all of which that had attended the Queen's party some time ago. There were others, but they weeded them out and all had their alibis confirmed when the nobleman was killed. So far, those three suspects did not have any alibis of their own, at least not any that the pair knew of.

Ciel sighed, his patience wearing thin. It had been over a half hour. Those musicians sure did have some stamina.

He perked up when he heard the performance end as the musicians needed a break. The footsteps sounded as they all made their ways to the backstage. "Ah! Excuse me, sir, I don't supposed if you know where Mr. King, Mr. Norward, and Mr. Whitmore may be at?" Sebastian stopped a scrawny man as he walked past them.

"Oh-I saw them together in a room." He pointed in a direction of a certain room, "Hope you can meet them-they hardly ever had a time to have a meet and greet these days." Sebastian thanked him and the man waved it off. He walked to whatever direction he was going in.

Ciel eyed him until he vanished from his view. He shrugged it off, not noticing his butler's curious glances. With that, they went ahead to their destination, not noticing a small group of suspicious people.

"Ehm-why is that little girl with us again?"

"…"

"Or those…ehm…pair? I'm still curious of how you've convinced them to go with us without getting…mauled."

"..."

"Heheh! This is a fun game, big sister!"

"Why were we following them again, milady?"

"…" The skin was palest of red.

**THELOVELESS**

The earl scowled- they were getting nowhere with this case! He was starting to think that star prediction he had received from that little girl was nothing more than a hoax, a hindrance rather. His butler had confirmed their proclaimed alibis, making everything harder.

The musicians went back to their performance-as much as he was a fan of music himself (as long he wasn't the one that played it, that is-he loathed playing violin, what with annoying fussing from Sebastian and all), he couldn't relax. Ciel huffed, leaning against a large wooden box where people kept their costumes in, as he thought on where to go on this case now.

"Milord, please drink a cup of warm milk-you're stressed." Sebastian gifted a silver tray on his gloved hand, with a cup on it. Ciel eyed him, wondering how he'd gotten the such items. The tall male bended down to allowed the young boy to pluck the cup from the tray.

Ciel sipped only once from the cup, frowning still, "This is not leading us anywhere. We had a lead but it's a bad lead. This is frustrating, Sebastian."

The butler frowned and was about to open his mouth to say something but got interrupted, "That was because you're not looking in right places, Mr. Phantomhive." A familiar cheery voice echoed in the music-filled atmosphere. Their eyes landed on the very butler of the one that gave him the card. Ciel stared in surprise. The redhead continued, a maddening gentle smile on his lips, "But you're in the right place, just in wrong corners. Look closer-what about those people who associated closely with the very ones you suspected?"

"Lady Higurashi's butler? What-"

Kagome appeared and stopped him, her face neutral. "I'd suggest you that you both hurry up-before the lost spirits are to able to exact their vengeances." Her black dress almost made her to be one with the darkness.

"What were you two talking about?" Ciel was confused. Kagome pointed at something, something that was behind them. He followed the direction and looked back. Ciel allowed a startled sound to flee from his lips. He was caught by his butler when he nearly fell down from the shock. The sound of his cup breaking screamed hollowly in his ears.

It was a pair of specters, slowly walking to an unknown destination-their backs were turned to them-two of them and the earl was barely able to tell that they were the recent murdered victims.

"They know who murdered them and they wished to take their revenges-you have as much time before they were able to reach him-the pitiful fool." With only a beat of silence, he added, "Have fun!" Shippou chirped out as he smiled once more. After carefully stepping over the broken shards of the glass cup that he dropped, the little baroness flopped down on the very box that Ciel was leaning against.

"Ha-! Are you saying that-?!" Ciel was about to speak but once again, he was interrupted.

"Milord, if what they say were true, perhaps we should find out who the killer is before the spirits do." Sebastian suggested, ignoring the mild annoyance streaming from his youthful master for being interrupted.

Ciel, shaky, nodded in agreement, "Fine, but I'll have many questions for you so expect me when this is over, Lady Higurashi." He eyed the lady, not letting how eerily she resembled so much like a fine doll get to him.

Shippou looked somewhat offended at his icy tone but Kagome simply took it in a stride, so he let it go, "Very well. We'll be here."

Another little girl giggled. She was hiding behind the butler, peeking at them. Ciel wondered who she was but he pushed that thought aside. He looked up to his butler, "We need to find out who worked under the musicians and do it fast."

"Yes, milord. " With that, the pair hurriedly left deeper into the backstage. Ciel looked back at the child with tired eyes, almost piercing his very soul. She was dangling her thin legs.

"It will be too late." Kagome hummed. She was running a finger over a card. The card had a picture of a grim reaper, "A pitiful man who deserved a piteous death equal to what he had given out to the ones he took life of, the ones who he so badly wanted to be his audience…All eyes will be watching his final performance-his only and final performance he so desperately wished for."

"How scary..." Rina shuddered as she sat next to her, carefully stepping over the sharp jagged edges of the broken glass, peering at the creepy card, 'Death.'

Shippou smiled, keeping his chuckles in.

**THELOVELESS**

"He said people who associated with those musicians-but…how are we going find out who?" Ciel questioned as he walked, fast-paced, through small trench of workers. He made sure to look at each of their faces so to memorize them.

Sebastian easily kept up with his stride with his longer legs, "Well, he did say something about a 'pitiful fool'. Perhaps that's a clue?"

Ciel scowled, knowing that Sebastian knew who it was, only because the butler adored playing games with his mind. He kept on walking, hoping that he can get to the killer before it was too late.

He stopped suddenly, a sudden gasp escaped from his mouth. His butler stopped before him, "Master? Is there something wrong?"

"It was the man who pointed us into the direction of the earlier suspects, wasn't it?" He turned to Sebastian, "Wasn't it?" He stressed.

A mocking smile slithered on his lips, "My, how do you know?"

"He had a roll of piano wire within his hands and those red spots on his collar…It's blood! And the card -it must've meant someone with a dream of being famous! He must have so badly wanted it that-!" Ciel's eyes widened in a realization, "He's looking for his next victim!" Suddenly, he thought about Kagome, the little lady whom was shrouded into countless mysteries and bit his lips.

"Master Ciel?" Sebastian was still smiling that dark smile of his, one that Ciel wished he could wipe it away if he could. Preferably with his fists.

"Take me to Lady Higurashi! Now!" Ciel demanded and within instant, Sebastian obeyed and grabbed him and ran back into the direction they came from.

**THELOVELESS**

Kagome eyed the man wearily, still dangling her legs on the very wooden box she was still sitting on. Rina stood behind it, cowering as she watched, "Ah-h, Mister Wo-man-n…" She looked like she was going to burst into tears. Shippou Reynard was lying in his own pool of blood; his face down with his neck split open.

The man had come up to him from the darkness of the shadow without much of the noise and suddenly strangled him with a thin line of steel string, preventing him from being able to yell out for help. This was the reason why Rin didn't see him until he stood right in front of them. His sleeves were all bloody and Rin then realized that it was from the poor butler. She leapt behind her big sister.

Rin's tears were biting her skin as she tried hard to keep them back. She never knew how hard it was to keep in cries and tears.

Kagome, although, stared blankly at him. The gap-toothed girl saw few telling twitches from her hands, and wanted to wonder what they meant. Unfortunately the image of the dead cheery man laying in the pool of blood took over her mind. Rin swallowed down frightened whimpers and pressed her face onto the back of the black cloth of the older girl.

"My, my, what pretty eyes you have, little girl. Mind if I rip them out?!" The crazed man crackled as the music turned suddenly morbid from the behind of the large red curtains.

Rin briefly wondered why there was no worker around to help them.

Kagome blinked at him, almost scowling.

The man then quickly unleashed his weapon of choice and rose them high into the air, preparing to rope it around her pale, silky flesh and squeezes it. It was taut, humming and very ready to be used. The grin was mad upon his breaking face.

There were sounds of a rapid footsteps and the slaps of the cloths fighting with the air. The man paused, confused. He barely turned his head, side seeing only leather and a black jacket. There was a shoe inches away from his face.

The sole of a shoe made its' impact, nearly made the man's jaw into pieces, and threw the madman's body into the one bleeding on the floor. The man grunted, but the music drowned out the sound as he struggled to get off the bloody body. The red liquid was getting all over his clothes and his skin.

"I wouldn't move if I were you." Ciel warned, moving into front of the young girls, as if to protect them. The man growled out and zipped off the floor, off the body, with the thin metal readied into his hands and lunged after Sebastian.

The butler in perfect black stepped back to avoid the sharp tool and managed to find a perfect timing to punch him right into his chest, temporarily paralyzing him.

"Shippou." Kagome's voice echoed out, snapping her finger, "Time for his final performance."

Ciel looked back, "What?" He just saw him dead a mere few feet away!

The crumpled body quickly and flexibly got up and was scowling with distaste at his bloodied form for a brief second. He suddenly bowed, "Yes, milady." Ciel blinked, startled. While Sebastian and the crazed man were fighting, the revealed killer was turning out to be quite a fighter for a human.

The light from behind the large curtain suddenly turned on, causing some gasps to sound from the audience from the beyond and the music shortly stopped. The musicians then shrugged, figuring that there was a play taking place that they were not informed of, and resumed their playing.

"Now, time for special guests." Kagome announced as she got up and briskly walked to a side behind a part of the curtain that was still down. She would not be seen by the audience. Rina followed her newest idol, so to hide, just as the curtain started to rise.

Ciel was flushed when he found himself being a target of many pairs of eyes and found himself bolting to where the girls were, just to get out of the gazes. Sebastian and the man were still battling.

"Shippou, why don't you do narration for them?" Kagome waved her hand lazily to the man from the other side, gesturing him to start. She sounded almost amused.

"Of course, milady." The red-haired man nodded before clearing his throat and began his dramatic narration, "_The detective, Bastian, was just strolling by when he spotted someone committing a murder. Striving to stop all of the crime-doers, he then went to stop the man. The man like him deserved to be punished for his crimes!"_ He must have looked like a dead man telling a tale.

The audience murmured out in confusion but they were already fascinated by the new play so their eyes were never off from the surprising performance. Sebastian muttered quietly, "Bastian? Is that how creative he can get?" He grabbed the killer's hands and threw him into the air. He dusted hands, satisfied with his work, idly wondering why he took it easy on the pathetic human.

"_But alas, as try as he might, the killer cannot get away from his crimes he committed!_" Shippou dramatically exclaimed, "_It was because of this that the spirits of whom he'd wronged wished revenge upon him!"_

Sebastian and Ciel's eyes grew wide, realizing they couldn't get him in time, let alone knowing his name. Two familiar ghosts materialized from the thin air, hovering above the moaning murderer.

"_'_I want my eyes you stole back!_' One spirit cried out as she took him by his neck! '_I want my life you stole back!_' Another cried as he took him by his legs! Try as he might, he cannot get away from the ones he'd wronged._" Shippou kept back the grin that was threatening to break out as the man roared out in despair. The man can feel their claws sinking into his flesh as they dragged his soul away from his body.

"_Alas! Bastian cannot do nothing more than stand and watch as the spirits of those the man wronged slowly destroyed by him_. The man then started to crack, bursting into laughter as he saw the hundreds of eyes watching him, "Hahahah I am famous now! Famous!" He didn't even realize that his clothes were being torn apart by their claws and his skin was drawing blood. His soul was roughly handled and twisted, as they dragged the last of it roughly out.

"_Oh, what a pitiful man! But he deserved a pitiful death! O' O' O! This is the end of this pitiful man!_" Shippou proclaimed out, his tone dramatic, perfectly suited for a narrator. The music was drawn to a close, just as the curtain was slowly being dropped.

The man then dropped dead-quite literally-and his body thudded loudly but not over the sound of the clapping and loud praises. The cheering of the audience took the theatre by the storm.

Ciel was so astounded that he was quite speechless as he watched Kagome walking to the dead body. However, she wasn't interested into the dead body, rather… she was interested in the _reformed_ spirits. The soul they destroyed had somehow disappeared.

"Ah-thank you so much!" The girl ghost said, her dilating eyes blinking rapidly. The ghost of a boy standing next to her timidly nodded in agreement. Both held hands, "We're ever so sorry for hurting people-we just wanted to get their attention-it was just rather hard to know how much we'd done until it was too late. We're so, so sorry!" The older girl bowed deeply. The boy did the same.

"Oooh, ghosties!" the little girl who was standing next to the young earl, chirped out, her voice curious. Her innocent eyes knew no cruelty of the ghosts' fates and held only amazement.

Kagome waved their apologizes off, "Want me to send you down to the path of afterlife?" She pulled on one of her black gloves as if she was ready to cast a spell. Ciel stood by her, still speechless.

Just as the female ghost opened her mouth, someone interrupted them, "No, no. That won't be necessary, Lady Higurashi." The echoes of the booted feet were approaching to where they stood, following with the occasional sounds of tapping of something metallic. Kagome gazed at the owner, never giving anything away from her face. The familiar gentleman appeared into the light from the darkness of the backstage.

"You-!" Ciel muttered out in recognition as he saw him. His butler, who now stood next to him, stiffened.

The man pushed up his thick-rimmed glasses with his glove, the roll of light reflecting off. His attention never once wavered from the tiny lady, "Excellent performance-you managed to distract everyone from seeing me taking his soul, Lady Higurashi. I thank you for it." He then looked at the ghosts. They flinched from his steely gazes.

"Yet once more, your department failed, Mr. William T. Spears. They should have been taken to the afterlife long ago. And here I am, repairing their wounds and was fixing about to sent them on their way." The biting insult from the little girl caused William to recoil somewhat. Her tone seemed to hold some contempt.

"My sincerest apologizes, Lady Higurashi. My department and I do not wish to burden you anymore as it is. As we speak, they are set about to improve their operations so this wouldn't happen again." The man bowed low before her.

"I still doubt it-your other associates told me the very same thing before and they still failed to receive their…'duties' as they called them. So do tell your department this, until I see vast improvement myself, do **not** promise me the false promises, Mr. William." Her eyes turned steely, rather frightful for her age, "Am I clear?"

"Perfectly clear, Lady Higurashi. It's the least I can do for you after…cleaning up messes after messes for us." William stated, still bowing low. It was almost as if he was ashamed for burdening the girl with duties that didn't belong to her.

Kagome said nothing more to him nor to the ghosts who were looking at them warily. She walked back to her bloodied butler. Shippou was still standing in the same spot of where he pulled the curtains and narrated the entire performance. The very curious little girl with a side ponytail went running after her 'big sister'.

"We'll be taking a leave now-if you still desire to ask questions, please schedule a meeting with Lady Higurashi fairly soon." The redheaded butler made a quick bow to the boy master and his butler before he left to escort the two young girls out of the theatre.

"Ah-!" Ciel was about to open his mouth to call out after Kagome but he instead ended up with William's rod's pointy business end hovering dangerously close to his face. Sebastian was quick to smack the offending tool of the way.

"You two. What business do you have with Lady Higurashi and her associates?" William stated out, his glasses glinted into the light dangerously, as he snapped back his extended tool into its' regular length.

Ciel sneered at him, offended. Sebastian glared. "We just crossed paths. That's all you'd need to know." The boy told him, refusing to give William the information he wanted.

"Lies. Best to stay away from the little Lady, you hear? The department and I do not want her to fall into your death trap of the fate you so dearly hold. Stay away from her." He firmly told the pair this as he turned his back to them, "Come along, you two. Sooner you enter the afterlife, the better. Otherwise, you'd both end up in the belly of a…_beast_." William spat out as he sharply glanced back to the tall man in black and gave him his glare.

The ghosts, Sango and Kohaku, nervously glanced at each other but decided to fall in behind of the Death God when he started to walk back into the darkness of the backstage.

Ciel was speechless and it wasn't long until Sebastian got worried, "Young Master?"

Ciel then let out a vulgar curse, at which Sebastian was appalled at and made a mental note to redo the lessons of manners later on. Ciel realized one thing, "We haven't gotten the killer's name!" He cupped his face, "Wonderful-what am I supposed to say to the Queen? You know she'd demand me to answer. She'd want to know everything."

"Nonetheless, at least we got rid of him-no longer will anymore humans be under the threat of being killed by him." Sebastian told him, "All she wants us to do was to put a stop to this. And we succeeded. Wouldn't that be enough?"

Ciel removed his hand from his face as he let out a sigh of relief, "True." He nodded as he started to walk into the direction of where everybody had left into, "Oh and schedule me a meeting with Lady Higurashi- see if you are able to get the date of tomorrow or the day afterward."

"Yes, milord. I'll see to it." He bowed just before he fell into the steps behind the smaller male. A smile was dark upon his lips.

Briefly, Ciel paused, "What will we do about the body?" He glanced at the mess behind.

"I'll take care of it." The butler smiled. With a nod at the assurance, the earl continued on.

When they both disappeared into the darkness, a man, perhaps an owner of the Red Lion Theatre, quickly dashed into the backstage-but he looked saddened, "I wanted to hire them for the next performance!" The blood pool back on the backstage vanished without anyone noticing. The body was long gone-perhaps someone or some_thing_ had dragged it away, without a single spot of evidence.

**THELOVELESS**

"Rinaaaaa!" The cry of an enraged father bellowed, echoing down to the entrance of the theatre. The birds squawked, frightened by the howl and scattered away from the roofs. The poor Rina let out a squeak and hid behind the amused butler. The butler had somehow managed to get rid of the blood staining his outfit.

"I did tell you that your father wouldn't be pleased when you ran off, after we informed him of our decision, did I not?" Shippou sighed as he received a weak glare from the little girl.

Kagome held down her long skirt just as the wind angrily breezed by and Mr. Duane appeared, looking very ragged, "Rina…Do you know how much I'm worried about you?!" He scorned at his whimpering daughter, shivering behind Kagome and Shippou, "Come out there!"

"Y-yes-s, b-b-boss…" Rina once again shuttered out as she timidly stepped out from her badly concealed hiding place. Her father roughly dragged her to his side and told her she'd be punished when they get home. The big man straightened back up and looked at the exorcist he'd hired, "So…did you…?"

Kagome nodded and her butler nodded, "Of course. They went with peace as they went into their afterlife-so you shouldn't have any more problems with them. But if they, for some reason, return, please let us know, Mr. Duane." Shippou smiled at the larger man.

Mr. Duane released a sigh of relief, "That's good to know. I'll send you my payment in mail." He then glanced at the whimpering Rina wearily.

Kagome cocked her head thoughtfully before she reached in her overcoat. She pulled out a candy, same kind as the one she first gave Rina yesterday, and thrust it to the girl, "For keeping your promise." She commented out and the teary eyed Rina gave her a happy smile. She looked up to her father, hope shining in her eyes.

Mr. Duane sighed and nodded to her, "Go ahead and take it, sweetie, but this will be the last candy you will have in a while." Rina then happily took it, trying to keep the disappointment at bay.

"Would you like a ride back to your home, Mr. Duane?" Shippou offered as the carriage pulled up, exactly right on time. The horses snorted. They stomped eagerly as they waited for the people to get in the wooden stagecoach they so willingly pulled.

"I-I couldn't-"

"We insist!" A weathered, older voice echoed out and Kagome kept in a moan of despair, biting her tongue to do so. Her skin darkened. It was her grandfather. He was standing on the steps that rolled out of the wagon from the door against the frame.

"Who are you?" Mr. Duane couldn't help but to ask, not recognizing him.

"I'm Mr. Lusicus-Higurashi! Kagome's grandfather~! I just thought I'd come by and pick up my lovely grandchild and her butler! There's room for more!" He gave a brilliant grin.

"Ah, nice to meet you, sir...?" Mr. Duane wasn't sure what to take about this strange old man but said nothing as his daughter was savoring her treat noisily.

By the look of his eyes, he knew the old man wouldn't give in and caved, accepting his offer for a ride home. The old man came back inside, followed by Kagome and Rina, and then Mr. Duane. Shippou went in the last.

The driver then snapped the horses into pulling the wagon and they whinnied. The beasts resumed moving once more, just as the certain pair exited the entrance of the theater.

Inside, Mr. Higurashi smiled at Mr. Duane, who sat on the opposite side as he thanked him for the ride, "No worries! Now I hope everything went well on the exorcism of the spirits?" He asked out, innocently, though the question wasn't aimed at anyone in particular.

"Of course, sir." Shippou answered him, gracefully sitting next to the father of Rina, ignoring the fact that Rina was being too noisy on the lap of Mr. Duane.

"Ah, good, good. I wouldn't expect less of my granddaughter!" He beamed out. The grandfatherly pride glowed brightly within him.

Kagome glanced at her grandfather briefly. She looked away, watching the outside world to blur by. Mr. Higuarshi saw the look and smiled, knowing what she wanted.

"Hm, you know-I was looking for someone to fill a role of my vice-president of my chain of stores so I was wondering…Would you be interested into having the job? The former vice president retired, just you know." It was so out of the blue that Mr. Duane had to stammer for the reply.

"W-w-what?" Was he hearing things?

"Take it, boss! Take it! Take it!" Rina chirped out, her treat was almost all gone. She wriggled into his lap as she poked him on his bearded chin.

"Ah-h-are you sure?"

"Positive! Plus it was very rare to see my grandchild being attracted to someone so quickly! And should you choose to accept, I'll make sure to cover the expenses of your two children in a hospital and any debts for you-for free!" Mr. Higurashi exclaimed out. Kagome was ignoring his outburst into the favor of watching the outside world, embarrassment burning brightly within. Shippou looked amused. And Rina was noisily finishing off her chocolate treat.

And so he accepted. Of course, with that offer of paying for his children in the hospital and the debts were far too tempting to say no to.

He then decided that he wouldn't punish Rina after all, once he let his family in on the good news.

Only one thing that was bothering Mr. Duane was that, shouldn't the old man at least looked into his background first? Ah, but no point looking into a gift horse's mouth, as the saying goes. How could he possibly decline such an offer?

Mr. Higurashi immediately went into what the responsibilities would be and the necessity of having an education of managing businesses. The father then argued that perhaps he should take on the lowest job first, before rising to the top. The old man shot a hole into his argument, asking how he'd take care of the debts he was surely to have with merger payments. After the loud argument and the master's clever final words, Mr. Duane gave up, knowing the old man had a good point.

The elder man only asked for Mr. Duane's family to spend time with his granddaughter in return.

Mr. Duane realized just how much a simple smile from the little lady meant more than all the money in the world to Mr. Higurashi. The strong man glanced down to his child and sighed with a grin, fully understanding the oddity of the offer. Well, if he and his family could handle the jeers from the polite society, then he will happily take it.

Good things do happen to hard working people.

Kagome settled her elbow upon an armrest and cupped her chin to hide a smile that was threatening to break out. Her ears were smoothed by the child's off-keyed singing and shut her eyes. Now Rina can have her as her big sister!

Shippou was amused. Of course she was her grandfather's grandchild. It was a rarity she even requested for her grandfather, subtly, to give out a job that was too good to decline. He laughed in the midst of yet another heated business debate.


	7. Warm Morning

**Chapter Seven:  
><strong>_Warm Morning_

Inside of the closed canopy bed there was a child-sized mound in the middle, under the thick royal blue comforter. The said mound rose up and down softly, the light breathing could be heard, never noticing the light that shone brightly through the similar-colored curtain and among the collective stuffed animals. The toys were everywhere in the gigantic room; in the corners, on top of the dressers, and upon the bed post and the canopy cloth, strategically placed.

Scuffing sounded and an odd-shaped shadow loomed over the dark-colored covering that was hiding the living mound from the view of the outside world. The shadow made a move to go through the covering to get to the unsuspecting child under the comforter.

The once sleeping child let out a sleepy squeak when she felt the bed dip heavily and felt something stubbornly getting under her covers too, "No!" The little girl squeaked out once more and tossing away the blanket when the giant head began assaulting her face. She tried to fend off the wet, happy lickings she was receiving from the gigantic beast.

A door opened with a click and footsteps entered the room. The sounds suddenly stopped, as if in shock, "Milady!" A familiar voice cried out and in a second, a white gloved hand appeared inside of Kagome's own enclosed bed and Kirara the protesting tigress was sharply dragged away by the neck with the drape being pulled opened. It was just big enough to be able to get the creature off without any minimal of damages.

Kagome sat up, wiping away the saliva from her face with her nightgown's sleeves. She was murmuring quietly over the tigress' morning attitudes. Her eyes peeked out to the man as he was letting go of the side covering. She almost rolled her eyes as she heard an apology she heard every single morning being uttered from the man that was her butler, "No harm was done, Shippou. It was just a daily morning routine of hers-being my personal, furry alarm clock." She said it without showing the mirth she was feeling at the sight of rivalry Shippou and Kirara shared.

The dark blue side covering was lifted up once more and she was able to see her butler, dressed in a suit he always wore, and with his favorite jewelry pieces on. He eyed her, "Surely there would be a much better alarm than _that_." He gave a sharp glare to the animal that he dumped on the floor; she gave a displeased snarl in return, showing her entire rows of blade-like teeth, and her striped fur stood up. Nonetheless, she still had not moved her furry bottom off from the hardwood floor.

"She wouldn't be Kirara." Kagome commented out, as she invited Kirara back on her bed, now that the tigress calmed down some. She immediately went to rub her head against Kagome's, purring like an engine. Kagome sighed as the beast went to lay her torso over her knees, resisting the urge to smile, as she combed her fingers through her fur.

"Then your appearance wouldn't dirty with her tongue." He stared at the animal as he went to tie the coverings back to the wooden posts, slowly unrevealing his lady and her tiger friend to the sun that was peeking curiously through the curtains.

"Oh, mind not Kirara-she's just being friendly, plus I adore the attention I receive from her often." Kagome said, amused, as she listened to each and every last one of her friend's grunts and purrs, as she scratched behind the large animal's furry ears.

"Tis still not appropriate, milady-for no beast should be on your bed." He reminded, as he went to pull open the curtain to allow stuffed animal covered room to have some sun.

"Oh, thus the pity, Shippou, that it's not you-is that what you're saying then?" The tiny lady was amused, as Shippou seemed to have falter at that, "Oh, I kid you so, my butler. So what's my schedule for today?" She questioned, as she nuzzled into the thick, long coat comfortably, wrapping her arms around her tigress' large neck and pulled her against her chest for a hug. Kirara rumbled loudly at the show of the affection she was given, "And what's our breakfast?"

Shippou narrowed his emerald orbs at the beast he still found annoying, and narrowed more once he saw her seemingly snickering at him with her eyes exclaiming, "_You're so jealousssss~!_" However, he knew he needed to answer to the Lady Higurashi, so he opened his mouth and proceeded from there, "For breakfast, my little Lady, it was requested by your grandfather that we'd have the traditional Japanese breakfast this morning, so it'll consist of bowls of rice, miso soup, grilled fish, tamagoyaki, and umeboshi." He smiled kindly when he saw her eyes unusually bright. She simply adored miso soup.

Then again, she always favored Asian meals over the western, perhaps to honor her Japanese heritage.

At the rumbling of the animal, he resisted the urge to roll his orbs, "And it's off to the hunting for you-" Kirara bared her teeth at that offhanded comment, "but I did see that there were a nice vast number of deer earlier in the morning." She quickly opened her mouth and roll out her tongue to drool at the thought of tasting the deer flesh and the thrill of chase. Kagome coughed a little as she gently shut the big cat's muzzle closed, as she didn't want any of her spittle on her bed.

Kagome then gestured the massive she-beast to get off from the bed so she could get dressed -the animal complied, her mind on the thoughts of a fresh deer in her tummy. She stretched out before she placed her small feet onto the hardwood and got up. She absently realized Kirara already had slithered out of the door that was somehow opened, and then shutting it with the force of her tail as the old cat plotted to hunt this morn.

Shippou asked which outfit she wished to wear and she negligently chose the simple black dress with a white sash with a bow around the waist and he went ahead to help her to get it on. Once she got the black dress on and went about to put her white stockings on. He followed his lady to the vanity and waited for her to sit down on her little backless chair and took a silvery brush. "So...the schedule?" The lady wondered.

"Ah!" Shippou stopped brushing her hair so to unravel it from her last night sleep's rustle before resuming again, "After breakfast, approximately at nine a.m., you'll have your piano lesson, with me as your tutor, as always. At ten a.m., you'll take math lesson, again, with me." He pretended to not to have heard that groan as he fixed a white hair band upon on her ebony crown.

"At twelve p.m., you'll be playing a game of Go with your grandfather and afterward, you and your grandfather will have a cup of tea together outside, since it'll be a nice day today. Please wear a scrawl, it will be chilly. After that, you'll have a meeting that was set up by Earl Phantomhive; he was rather curious of your…ah, duties, milady."

Kagome minutely paused putting her one of simpler boots on, "I…see. I'll be waiting his arrival eagerly then. Oh and what about my assignment? I know there's one today." She continued on to have her feet into her boots.

"Yes, you'll leave right after the meeting-but we'll be receiving a messenger soon, because we aren't sure on how bad this assignment will be so there's a chance that you might have to leave in the middle of the meeting." He advised as he set down the hairbrush, "You look simply marvelous, milady." Shippou smiled.

"Don't waste praises, Shippou-you know I'm undeserving of it." And his smile turned into a frown as she sharply told him this. She nimbly spun away from her butler and got up with grace even a swan would envy.

The butler released a silent sigh and folded the nightgown, taking it so he'll wash it in the laundry later. Suddenly a thought came across in his mind and he remembered something he had forgotten, "Milady! I forgot!" He exclaimed out, just as Kagome turned the knob. She looked back, questioningly.

"Rin-"

The door burst open, accidentally throwing Kagome on the ground, "Big sister!" A pale orange blur pounced on Kagome in a tight squeeze, "Rin is here!"

Kagome looked bedazzled, her hair no longer neat, as the tinier girl was on her waist, squealing from delight. She turned to the tall butler who smiled down to her confused face, "Young Rina will be accompanying you for your lessons as well-her mother, Mrs. Duane, personally requested it, as she still was unable to find suitable tutors for her."

Kagome blinked and moved her face slowly to the grinning one of Rin, "Big sister! Look what mama got me!" She stood up on her noticeably shiny new black shoes and spun around to demonstrate her new dress. It was not as bright as one would expect from a little girl like her, but rather it was pale soft orange color with paler colors for her bows, linings, layers of silk, and everything else. Her skirt rose low under her white stocking-covered knees.

"You looked pretty in it, Rina." Kagome nodded, getting up herself, dusting her skirt as doing so and smoothing down her hair. Kagome brushed a stray lock aside from Rin's face, noting that her hair was no longer tangled and now it was shiny and wavy. She still had her side ponytail, though it was much better done than it was before.

"Thank you, big sister!" Rin took a hold of her hand, at which Kagome flinched at. Rin noticed and let it go, murmuring, "Sorry." Rin was a very bright girl so she understood more than most kids her age would and adapted quickly. Even though she didn't understand why her big sister didn't like it when someone touched her, she just knew Kagome didn't like it. Rin wondered if her skin being rough and callous when it should be soft and gentle to touch (seeing as Kagome's a proper noble lady) may have something to do with it.

"No, no. It's okay." Kagome patted Rin's back and gestured her out of her room-if it was any other kid, they would have stayed and admired her stuffed animal-filled room, but Rin had already been in her room before, several times in fact, just yesterday.

Her parents sent her over when they were quickly moving out of their clammy, old house into one of few manors that Kagome's grandfather owned. Let's just say that they wanted to avoid the stress of the moving on their littlest one and that she had a ton of fun with her newest big sister with her other siblings (_though for some odd reason, Kagome avoided them like a plague and decided to be a hermit inside of her own room until they were gone. She only allowed her grandfather and Rin in, including her butler too._).

Kagome remembered how Rin had stuttered with her speech and realized that the confidence boost from her father's new duties and a new (bigger) home had gave her strength to overcome it. She heard that Rin even got her own room now, stuffed full of toys and dolls. Amazing how a once-in-a-lifetime offer can boost one's confidence a big time.

Kagome couldn't say the same with Mr. Duane however, he was mighty nervous about meeting up high expectations last she saw him. What kept him pressing on was his precious family.

"Let us go and have some breakfast, shall we?"

With Rin's cheer, they left. Shippou remained in the room, his eyes straying to the two cats sitting on an edge of his lady's vanity desk, "Hm…It's starting to look more and more that the missus is depending on you two less…All of you less, rather." He mused, his eyes scanning to rest of her toys, before shrugging, intending to serve breakfast as soon as possible.

The pair said nothing, though the air around them seemed to have turned disheartened.

**THELOVELESS**

Rin chattered on, commenting on how yummy and foreign the foods were (few she still found yucky, which was expected for her age), while Kagome allowed her grandfather to explain the culture and reasoning of eating the Japanese breakfast on the low table, with the knees tucked on the tatami mat they had been provided with by a woman servant, with chopsticks. Rin whined a little about the discomfort so he allowed her to flop on her bottom while Kagome showed her how to use chopsticks correctly.

Some chuckles escaped the old man when the tiny girl failed at her first several attempts, but he then dropped praises when she finally succeeded. From there, Rin was able to enjoy her breakfast-she was such a quick learner.

Kagome ate hers in total silence, only replying to Grandfather and Rin if she deemed it necessary to do so. There was another older male sitting on a mat against a wall, away from the small group, as he was sipping his steaming tea. He had a long, white hair that was tied back, much like Grandfather, had very bushy facial hairs, and had a black suit on (the suit was much like Shippou's). Only things about him that stood out the most were his bald head that gleamed brightly under the light and his eyeglasses that were so thick and large that if he ever opened his eyes (which were almost always closed), they would appear like a pair of bulbous eyes.

"Mr. Toutousai! Are you sure you don't wanna join us for breakfast?" Rin was such a kind-hearted girl so she couldn't bear to know someone was left out.

Mr. Higurashi smiled gently to her, "He'll refuse, little one."

And as he predicted, Toutousai shook his head, "No, but thank you, young miss." His voice came out rather gravely, hoarse, and old, showing his age as he gave his answer. He still sipped his tea however, and seemed rather very cutesy and _small _(read: _chibified)_ at the moment.

Mr. Higurashi smiled at Rin's saddened look, "Don't worry about it-he truly believes that it wasn't proper to dine with his superiors, no matter how many times I tried to invite him for a simple meal."

"Mr. Toutousai is a stubborn old man. He is good at what he does." Kagome simply explained. Her grandfather let out a loose chuckle.

Rin nodded in understanding, "Oh, okay. But did he have his breakfast already then? What about Mister Yash and Miss Kiki?"

"They already ate-don't worry about it. The servants usually eat before us, so they can get about their day with chores." The older girl told her after she finished off the rest of her miso soup by 'drinking' from the bowl. Kagome placed the bowl back with a contented sigh.

The old man did the same and Rin followed, seeing that she already ate rest of the thick meat and vegetables that once floated into the soup. They both released a sigh after they placed their bowl down.

Shippou quickly cleaned up the table after receiving an affirmation that they were all done with their breakfast. He then told Kagome to be ready for her piano and Rin will watch and listen so to get some pointers on how to play it.

Kagome let out a quiet grumble but did as he asked and led Rin to a music room they had in the manor after telling Mr. Higurashi that she'd join him for a game of Go and tea later with Rin. Rin bid a farewell to him until then, excited to see a room she hadn't seen yet.

Rin admired the music room, awed. It was very…magical. There are musical instruments all over; from basses to small violins that were each kept in its' case. What stood out the most was a massive grand piano that looked to be made out of shiny ivory sitting in the middle of the room. Its paleness was striking against the dark colors of the walls yet it still blended in with the floor of the same color.

To her, it was like right out of a fairy tale.

"Rin, you'll sit over there while I play with Mr. Reynard breathing down on my neck." Kagome commented offhandedly.

Rin let out a squeak when she saw Shippou raise an eyebrow when he entered the room, "Glad to hear how you felt about my teaching, milady." He stated with a tiny drop of sarcasm as he shut the door from behind him. Rin hurriedly took her seat.

They began their lesson. Rin watched, overwhelmed with the sounds of Kagome's delightful skill with the daunting instrument.

She watched closely as her fingers went flying to a white key to a black to the white again and a pattern emerged as the butler slash tutor kept a sharp ear to her performance. Only twice had he corrected her and she still managed to play perfectly, at least to her ears.

Her music was so beautiful and alluring that Rin didn't even realize how the time flew. She realized it was already an hour later when Shippou announced it was time for Kagome's math lesson. "Ne, Kagome, ne, you did great! Your music is so pretty, big sister!" Rin's chocolate-hued eyes shone brightly while she looked up to Kagome as she stood up from her seat, "Rin wanna play a piano too!"

Kagome nodded, "So that's the one you wanted to play?"

"Uh huh!" She nodded eagerly. Kagome nodded again, "It'll be hard and it'll take a bit while to catch on but you can do it. It takes a lot of practice." She told Rin as Shippou escorted them both to the lobby room for their math lesson. Kagome then went on to explain a bit more about the lessons Rin would take from a good tutor and how difficult it could be.

With Shippou though, he still was surprised with Kagome's eagerness to talk with Rina Duane when she'd never shown much interest to interact with other people. Perhaps she really was craving a companionship with someone young all along and Rin was perfect for her? Then again, Rin was rather innocent and had a heart of gold. Kagome would rather avoid those with swayed hearts at all costs and it's hard to meet such innocent people nowadays. It wasn't hard to see that like Rin had latched onto Kagome, she also latched onto Rin, if only for the sake of having companionship.

Again, there's Ciel Phantomhive and Kagome still willingly interacted with him. It was plainly obvious that he had a swayed heart…Perhaps Kagome was getting better? Shippou quickly stopped himself and shook his head as he opened a door for the little ladies. He mustn't get ahead of himself.

After all, everyone that loved Kagome had their hopes crushed over and over again before…

Kagome released a sigh as she took a seat from the table that her butler had so kindly pulled out for her. He did the same with Rin and then quickly started the lessons for each individual after giving them their books and items they needed.

For Kagome, somewhere in Lesson 15-2, right where they left off yesterday.

For Rina, he started her off from the beginning.

Time passed and found Kagome was burning a hole within her papers and book with her glare while Rin found herself enjoying her first lessons immediately.

"So multiply five by one hundred thirty one first then divide it by this? Then add a letter after this? And put an arrow there?" She murmured out, showing her confusion quite clearly on her face, as she chewed on an edge of her pen.

Shippou shook his head as he hovered over his lady's shoulder, "No, no, no. That's not correct. You should divide first before and this _then_ this." He placed a finger on her paper, showing her the proper way of doing the problem. He then went in to explain more.

Kagome growled irritably as she scribbled a number down, "So it's the y!"

"Close but no." Kagome wanted to stab one of his eyes out with the sharp nib of her pen but finally managed to find a correct answer she was looking for. She was left pouting, her skin reddened.

There! Now she finished her lesson! Kagome then glanced at Rin and resisted the urge to mumble at the sight. Rin was already finished with her first, second, and third lesson long ago and was currently doodling on a blank paper.

Rina was such a brilliant child for her age. Even though she never once had a lesson in number, only knowing how to speak and read, Rin still managed to catch on quick.

"Is it noon yet?" She questioned and after checking his pocket clock, she received a positive answer in return. With that, she left the lobby with Rin following behind her, intended to finding her grandfather to play a game of Go, as promised.

Rin then watched her and Mr. Higurashi interact in a rather pretty sunroom as they played a game that was looking quite similar to chess on a low table. So far, it seemed that Kagome was winning, but Rin wasn't sure. She never played Go before nor knew what it was-just that it was a strategy game. Rin didn't know that it's a lot like chess, only without the pawns, the queens, and pretty pieces.

Rin absently noted that Mr. Toutousai was still sipping his tea, against a wall, keeping a close eye on the grandfather and his granddaughter.

Suddenly, after what looked like to be a long standoff, Mr. Higurashi chuckled, "You win. There's no way I'll be able to get out of a trap you laid out, Kagome-chan."

"Tis a pity-you at least gave a nice fight though." Kagome mused as she gathered up her black pieces while the old man got his own white stones, "In real life, a black bear will always fight the trap to survive, no matter what it takes." Kagome eyed him, "You wouldn't make a very nice bear anyway."

While it may have seemed like an insult, he knew better-she just wanted to rile him up and give her a better challenge-all children adore challenges. And she was no different. He chuckled again, "Even so, you still won so why would that matter?"

Kagome hummed, not saying anything as she popped the top upon the bowl with him mirroring her actions, "Shall we have tea outside now?"

"Yes, that'll be very pleasant." Alden agreed.

Rin wasn't sure on what just happened, but she knew Kagome had won, as expected.

"Oh and bring your cards too-I'd like to know what'll happen today, love. And perhaps Rin'll like a reading?" Mr. Higurashi suggested. Rin nodded eagerly.

Kagome nodded, "Alright. Let me go and get my cards and you'll have what you ask for, Grandfather." She then added, "Don't forget your jacket, Grandfather, and a shawl for Little Rin. It will be chilly out."

**THELOVELESS**

Ciel was rather irritable today, Sebastian noted with mild annoyance, as he tried to help him with his current lessons. Music was never his best subject so he should at least expected that reaction-but…

The boy growled impressively as he glared at the sheet that was presented before him on the stand. Only after few minutes, he gave up, deciding to conquest this tomorrow, seeing that he did enough for the day. He was simply too distracted.

Sebastian nodded as he gathered up his master's items. He then paused when Ciel said something, "It's almost time for the meeting with Lady Higurashi, Sebastian-so be ready."

_Like a fly to honey._ The demonic butler amused, _But master, that honey is poisonous-be wary, you stupid, damned insect. And I should be too-but alas, it still called to both of us, did it not? _He thought as he set about to prepare for their departure, giving out few sharp commands upon those three stupid servants he had employed, _Now to get past the _beast_ that was in the way…That stupid weakling._

Sitting in his seat, Ciel thought more on what he recently discovered, _Kagome, Kagome…what are you hiding? Kagome, Kagome, when will you come out? You the little black bird who cannot fly…Come and reveal your secrets to me…_ He always did love that old children's song after all, foreign or not, after hearing a certain Chinese dealer humming it to his 'sister' some time ago. Ciel knew he shouldn't be curious, but he can't help it.

After all, he was only a selfish child who wanted to know everything. And he knew it.

_Kagome, Kagome…reveal your darkest secrets to me and I shall share…_

**THELOVELESS**

"Ah, so…you'll develop a new friendship with someone today?" The old man wondered, fascinated, as he allowed himself to be warmed by the sun outside.

Kagome huffed, her cheeks red with mild cold, "Don't forget-all of what the cards show us are nothing more than a possible outcome. So something like this…may or may not happen, Grandfather."

Alden shrugged, "Be that as it may-your cards seemed rather fond of you and almost all of your outcomes are pretty accurate-even you cannot deny that."

Kagome released a sigh, "Fine." She gathered up her cards from the table, "Rin, I'll give you a reading now." Rin cheered and the older girl looked somewhat amused, "Speak your question."

The younger girl pondered a bit before letting out a noise, "Ah! Um, will Rin have a good husband that she'll love in return? Fo-dly?" Rin had a bit of struggle with that word.

"You mean fondly." Kagome corrected her.

"Fondly!"

Kagome quickly pulled out several cards from the stack and laid them out. She then proceeded to interpret what it was saying, "It says that you'll have a good husband who will love you in return. But be warned, you and he will have a rocky start before everything will end the way you want it to be-and that your husband may not be perfect. He'll have a past that he'll need to come in terms with in order for the happy ending that both you and he wanted…Hm, curiouser and curiouser. Sounds like he's a bit of a mystery, Rin."

Rin squealed out in despair, "But what if he's a bad guy? Rin don't wanna marry him!" Mr. Higurashi chuckled.

"I highly doubt he is, Rin. After all, the cards say he'll love you very much." Kagome told her as she gathered up her cards again, "Bad guys don't usually love someone…very dearly, don't they?"

The girl in orange-colored dress shook her head, "Well, no, but…" She gave up but now had a look of curiosity upon her face, "Who'll you marry, big sister?"

Alden blinked and nodded eagerly, "Yes, yes-you must get the cards to tell us!"

Kagome was about to protest but the words fell on her tongue and never came out, not with their hopeful, eager looks. She huffed, her shoulders heavy, ignoring an amused chuckle from her butler as he stood next to the kneeling Toutousai, as she set about to arrange the cards on the bone colored table. She then proceeded to interpret them, "They says I'll receive my happy ending I longed for with a man with…" She stopped, her eyes widened with terror.

Rin looked at her with worry shining in her eyes, "Big sister? Are you okay?"

Kagome's voice was shaky, "I don't want to say it, Grandpappy. Please don't make me say it in front of Rin…" She seemed like she was having a bit of hard time breathing.

"Big sister!" Rin wondered what the cards were saying to hurt Kagome so, never minding the new word she called the old man.

Alden's aged eyes scanned the pictures on the arranged cards and widened in surprise before nodding in understanding, "It's alright-you don't have to say it, Kagome-chan." He then ensued on in a foreign language that Rin couldn't understand as he comforted Kagome.

Kagome chewed her lips before nodding, speaking the same language so foreign that it all sounded gibberish to Rin.

Shippou stepped forward and bowed his head next to baffled Rin's and whispered into her ear, "It wasn't our business, little lady, but I supposed I can translate those last tidbits for you-consider it your first encounter with the language of Japanese… My lady said, '_I'm all right, my grandfather. Thank you_.' and…" He paused for a second to hear what Mr. Higurashi was going to say next.

Grandfather smiled, returning the same gesture. The language flowed out of his lips easily.

"He said, '_I'm glad to hear it. My dear granddaughter_.' That's end of it, Lady Rina." Shippou straightened up and went back to his position next to the tea-sipping Toutousai.

Rin cocked her head, _Did something happen?_ She wondered. Kagome pulled in the cards and stacked it against the table to make it straighten out, looking hopeless there.

Mr. Higurashi sighed before quickly placing a smile upon his face to get rid of that sad frown, "Hm-I think we're done with reading today-let us enjoy our tea!"

Rina looked on, curious, but spoke nothing of it as she sipped her sugar-filled tea. She was a smart girl and knew her big sister would tell her someday. "Ah-Big sister, will you teach me how to read cards someday?" Rin cheerfully asked.

Kagome nodded, her eyes glancing at the younger girl, "I'll be happy to, Rin." She sipped her tea calmly, her eyes back on random spaces from the beyond. She internally cringed as she knew Rin was about to launch into one of her many 'I'll ask a 100 questions and you'll answer!' moments. And like she predicted, she did, "Oh and can you teach me how to play Go? Is it really like Chess I saw my mummy and boss play before? Can you play Chess?" They neither noticed the absence of a certain redhead or that there was a loud knock echoing from the house just a minute before.

Kagome blinked and sighed, ignoring her grandfather and the former butler's chuckles, "Yes. Yes, in a way, it is…And no, I don't know how."

Awkward silence.

Then of course, Rin broke it with a shocked expression, "Huh? You don't know how to play chess? Rin thought that all of the nobles were supposed to know how!"

Mr. Higurashi coughed to cover up his chuckles that fled from his lips and clammed up when he saw Kagome giving him a warning glance. Rin was about to open her mouth to say more, but got interrupted, "Milady, you have guests."

Saved by the butler, it seemed.

Rin pouted as Kagome patted her arm kindly, "Well, I best greet them-please keep my grandfather in a good company, okay?"

The tinier girl nodded, disappointed, "Okay…But you'll come back, right, before boss and mama get Rin home?" She eyed Kagome expectantly.

Kagome though didn't beat around the bush, "I'll try but I can't promise anything, Rina, I have my…duties to do after my meeting." She glanced back briefly as she walked to Shippou. He waited to escort her to the lobby room to greet the guests that were waiting.

"Oh, okay…" Rin looked down sadly but blinked back in a surprise when a wrapped chocolate bar came in her dejected view, "Nehh…?"

"Take it as my apology in advance, Rina, alright?" Kagome walked back to Rin so to give her the treat that she received from her butler. Again, once Rin happily took the treat, Kagome patted her lightly on her arms, "Keep my grandfather in good company in my absence, if you can, please."

"Okay, Rin will!" She chirped, her young eyes watching her big sister's form retreating to inside the manor.

Once Kagome entered into the sun room from the outside and Shippou shut the door from the behind, he swiftly remarked, "That was your last treat for today, Milady-how kind of you to gift Lady Rina that!" Shippou smiled brilliantly at her.

"Hm. So I did. Now let get this over with. We should be expecting a messenger soon, correct?" Kagome questioned out as she followed Shippou to the room.

"Yes, very soon." He opened a door and allowed her to go in first before him.

Outside, Alden Higurashi released a quiet sigh as he listened to the jolly child's chatters and gave a fake smile that looked so real that it even fooled the smart child. He tried to keep his mind clear and organized. He was failing badly-a thought constantly crossed his chaotic mind often, _Kagome and her future husband…the cards all spoke of scars-memories that my lovely child always tried to bury deep and forget-and a devil that lurked nearby…chains and revenges…Would it be possible that her future husband also shared the similar pains?_ A migraine formed but as always, he grinned and did his best to bear with it-ignoring an all-knowing glance from his personal butler and old friend.

**THELOVELESS**

"Ah, young Earl Phantomhive…Nice to see you and your butler again." Shippou smiled brilliantly as he and his lady stood before the pair of Watchdogs of the Queen inside of the entrance room. If one chose to look closely, they'd notice a dangerous gleam in the redhead's eyes. Kagome curtsied prettily to them quietly, her lips thin.

"Likewise." Ciel stated as he returned the gesture with a simple bow. Sebastian did the same.

"Well, shall I escort you to milady's study room?" Shippou gestured into a direction of a room up the not-too-grand stair.

Ciel nodded, "Alright."

The redheaded butler led them to Kagome's personal study, and gestured for the visitors to take a seat in the blue-colored leather chairs set before the white wooded desk. Kagome plopped herself into her own overstuffed seat. Ciel scanned with his visible eye around the rather small yet comfy room and noticed that there were many, small knickknacks, in mini versions of the stuffed animals that he himself made with his own company. Only thing that was larger and stood out the most was a green-eyed, blue-furred bunny that once sat at the edge of her desk before it reappeared into the arms of the tiny lady.

He supposed the bunny was one source of comfort when she was surrounded by people she didn't really know. She always seemed to have a stuffed animal inside of her arms whenever he was around, to be honest.

Chirping noises sounded throughout the room and his eye landed on a silver hanging, woven birdcage with two canaries singing together on a black perch in front of a large window. But what was so striking to him was that one of the canaries, which should be bright sunflower-yellow, was solid black with blue sheens in its feathers and with eyes a color of rust. For something so innocent, it sure did look evil. Another canary was off-white colored with a pair of soft pink-hued eyes, which suggested the fact that the canary was an albino, and it appeared to him that those birds were like a pair of yang-ying. Their music, though, were perfectly in harmony, beautiful.

Shippou saw his eye lingering on the birdcage and smiled, "Ah, these birds-they were a gift to Lady Kagome from an admirer and ever since then she took good care of them." Shippou pointed to the black one, "This one, Kagome named him Ingram." And to the one sitting next to the male, nuzzling its' mate lovingly with a pale beak, "And the white female was named Trinity." He dropped down his arm and smiled once more, "They're quite a lovely pair, aren't they?"

Ciel found himself nodding in an agreement, "Yes, they are." _Admirer? ...Not surprising-seeing that she's quite a beauty even by the people's standards. _He mused to himself. Ciel didn't think to include some people's race preferences-some weren't so fond of those of Asian blood. Purists one can say.

"Young master, didn't you want to ask questions to the lady here? That's the purpose of being here, is it not?" Sebastian pointed out and Ciel tossed a warning glare to him, before his face returned to the look he always wore.

The dark-haired butler merely smiled at his child master's antics.

"What's your job, Lady Higurashi? I'm curious." Ciel's eye was dark, demanding, yet Kagome didn't wavered by the force of it- her eyes were down often, but her face was always impassive. He noticed that her skin turned slightly red again.

Shippou opened his mouth to answer but with his obvious surprise, Kagome stopped him with a raised hand and a glance, "I'll answer this, thank you." Her voice was tired.

"Yes, milady." Shippou bowed slightly.

She placed down her hand as she pulled up her eyes up to face the boy's own, "I'm an Exorcist -a well-known one in the underworld. My job is to cleanse out the demons that were possessing humans, to open a path to the lost spirits, and drive out beasts from places." She gave a small glance to Sebastian and he merely blinked in return. Ciel seemed to pale somewhat at that look of acknowledgement, though only somewhat slightly.

Quickly, she spoke, "With payments, of course."

"I see-and how do I know that you're not a hoax?" Shippou seemed to be about to be ready to snap back on the young earl for what seemed like an insult to his own precious lady, but a knock on the closed door interrupted him. He snapped his mouth back close and walked to the door and opened it. There, in front of him, was a tall, slim woman with freed long black hair and sharp, pointed dark eyes, dressed into a simple maid outfit, with a long, respectable skirt, "Sir! A messenger gave me this and told me that it was urgent-my sincerest apologizes for interrupting Lady Kagome's meeting." She offered him an envelope.

Shippou waved her away after he pulled the letter off from her hands, "Thank you, Kiki. And the messenger...?"

"He fled back to whence he came from, Sir. He seemed rather frightened." Kiki cryptically answered before she was dismissed with thanks. She bowed and left without a word.

He shut the door behind him before he went to Kagome to hand over the letter silently.

Kagome peeled off the red wax on the back of it and unfolded it. Her eyes were scanning every word on the high-quality paper. She folded it back and handed it to her butler with a sigh, "Eighth one already, Shippou. Fetch me my cloak, please." Kagome stood up, after arranging her bunny doll back on her desk to be on the edge of the desk again, and patted her skirt.

"Yes, milady. Pardon us, please. I shall escort you out now-we're in a bit of hurry, as you can see." Shippou smiled and without giving them a chance to protest, he pushed them out of the study after seeing that they've already stood up. Kagome walked out behind them and turned into a direction of where her room was, perhaps to gather a few things.

"Now you're being rude." Ciel hissed out as Shippou practically pushed them down the stair. Sebastian couldn't really do anything, due to the fact that they were in somebody else's house and despite how rough the red-haired butler was being to them, his young master wasn't being harmed either. So his devilish butler can't do anything without being gentlemanly.

After all, being a proper gentleman was very important to be a noble.

"My apologizes, young sir. But milady's duties demanded her attention above all else. Is it not the same with _your_ duties, as well?" Shippou merely smiled as they stepped back down from the last step of the stair. Ciel glowered at him, wondering on just how much this family knew of his job with the Queen.

"Ah, excuse me-I need to fetch milady's cloak. Just a second, please, then I shall escort you both _out_." He seemed to be overeager to have them gone from his master and the little lady's home.

The Earl opened his mouth but was unable to pour his words out once he noticed that Shippou hurriedly left to someplace else, to receive the said item. A small sound of door closing echoed from above and Kagome emerged from a hallway from the top floor, with her cats, Lilith and Damien, within her tiny hands. And Ciel just realized that Kagome always seemed to wear gloves, regardless of the hours and places and whoever she was with.

She, quite like a mere, graceful princess, stepped down the stair carefully.

And just as she stepped off the final step, the male reappeared with a black, fuzzy material draped over an arm. He then placed it upon her shoulders. She nodded to him in thanks.

"Milord, perhaps...if you asked nicely...maybe you can obverse her...ah, current assignment?" Sebastian whispered into Ciel's ear with a gloved hand to keep his lips from the pair's view, with a glint into his rust-colored eyes.

Ciel chewed his lips as he agreed. Suddenly he bowed before the impassive girl, "May we go with you?"

Kagome looked up and stared at him. Her face revealed none of her opinions on his curious request.

After a minute had passed, he was beginning to get unnerved. As he was about to open his mouth, Kagome nodded, "That's fine with me, Earl Phantomhive." He was already speechless.

She walked passed him, to the door that was opened by her devoted butler, "Both of you may ride with us, if you so desire." Shippou stated as he stood next to the door, waiting for the young master and his butler to go through it. He now seemed a little peeved.

"Oh, we appreciate that. Thank you." Sebastian bowed as he gestured his master to walk out.

Ciel wondered just exactly how long the carriage had been there-seeing that it wasn't there when he first arrived and that was mere minutes ago! His eye then scanned the area and spotted a man-the same pale-haired man he'd saw some time ago-bowing as the little lady walked past him, "Hope you'll be unharmed when you return, milady." The man spoke out, his voice gruff, not looking up to see Kagome, who was standing before the dark-colored carriage patiently.

Kagome barely gave the man a glance but gave an unnoticeable nod in return. Ciel walked up to her, quiet. He barely heard Shippou shutting the door with an inaudible click or the heels of his butler approaching his form before stopping.

Shippou then quickly walked to the carriage and opened the door to allow Kagome to go in first -Ciel went in next. Sebastian followed, but not before returning a glare to the redhead. Shippou signaled the faceless driver to start driving the horses before he went in and sat next to his lady.

The carriage pulled away from the manor of the Luscius-Higurashi family and drove past the opened gate with its passengers silent. The snow-haired man looked up and saw the wooden vehicle vanishing from his view. He allowed out a 'feh' from his throat, "Better be okay-or I'll tear all of 'em a new one!" He commented out before returning to complete the last of his yard work that the fox bastard made him do.


	8. Chasing Ghosts

**Chapter Eight:  
><strong>_Chasing Ghosts_

For what seemed like an eternity, the silence had not been broken. Ciel checked his pocket watch and realized it had only been fifteen minutes. Lady Kagome seemed more interested into watching the landscapes rolling by outside and randomly poked her cat toys. One time he had sworn he saw one of them wiggled from an unprovoked attack. He merely shrugged it off as a flicker of his imagination.

Unable to bear with the heavy silence any longer, he asked a question, "Where are we going, Lady Higurashi?"

Kagome glanced up, her eyes connected with his, "We're going to Duke Lucas Noel's manor." She simply stated, before looking away, breaking the eye contact.

"Duke Lucas Noel…?" Ciel pondered-the name sounded familiar.

"I believed he was once an associate of your father, Young Master." Sebastian mused out.

Remembering a tall, larky man with a serious appearance that once scared him into a crying fit when he was young and still had his father and his mother alive, Ciel suddenly nodded, "Ah, that's right. I remember now." He turned to look at the young lady, "Why did he hire you, Lady Higurashi?"

Kagome didn't look at the young earl but answered him with annoyance in her tone, "They might be foolish and made severe mistakes."

Blinking back at that unexpected, vague response, his eye looked at both butlers in question. Sebastian seemed to have shrugged-unsure of what it had meant. Shippou though had sighed, looking somewhat tired.

_She said something about the eighth one-what did that mean?_ This time though, he decided it was wise to stay quiet -Kagome doesn't seemed to be pleased at whatever she was supposed to do for Duke Lucas.

**THELOVELESS**

Finally, they arrived; the carriage pulled up in front of an uninteresting manor, the spiky gate opened. Shippou popped open the door and rolled down the erectable steps before he was down on the ground-afterward, he helped his lady down and waited patiently for the earl and the butler to follow. Shippou pulled up the steps and shut the door. He signaled the driver to carry on, making sure to tell the driver to return within an hour or so.

They trekked to the building but all were surprised at the entrance door being slammed open. It was a tall yet somewhat round older man with a disarrayed appearance. He definitely looked like he had been through the hell and back. "You are the Lady Exorcist, aren't you?!" The gentleman pointed almost accursedly at Kagome. She merely blinked at the rude display.

"Yes, she is and we are her associates. And you are...?" Shippou was slightly muffed at his behavior as he almost moved to stand in front of his lady to protect her from the unnamed man.

"I'm Lucas Noel and I'm the one who hired your service-now, please hurry up and get rid of the bloody bastard!"

Ciel and Sebastian raised a brow; neither knows what's happening. To be honest, though, Ciel had a feeling that Sebastian might suspect something. That and Mr. Noel had…gained quite a bit of weight last time he had saw him. It had been _years_…

Kagome released a sigh and Shippou's lips formed into a thin line, "Very well, please let us into your home and guide us into what happened. If milady knew what and how had it happened then she'll be happy to...ah, fix the damages for you."

Lucas sneered but allowed the guests into his home. Kagome flinched briefly and she blinked. Shippou shook his head. Ciel pondered out loud, shocked, "What the hell just happened in here?"

The entire lobby was in an order of chaos, literally. Parts of wallpapers looked as if they were torn off, with visible scratch marks. These marks looked to be made by a child, rather than an animal. All of the furniture was flipped over or was destroyed, into pieces. A painting of what it looked like to be a thin, smiling gentlewoman was ripped off from its' dark whimsy curved frame and was torn into three separate pieces.

Shards of the fragile glass and vases were all over the hardwood floor and strangely, all of them were with the sharp knife-like edges upward, like jagged, smiling teeth, hell-bent into devouring a soul. It honestly looked it was done on purpose.

Ciel felt a cold chill running quickly into his spine. This was not normal. Whatever that Kagome does for a living...It was something dangerous.

Of course, so was his job. Still, the expelling of ghosts and demons was clearly a dangerous job, he just didn't know the extent of it.

His visible eye glanced briefly up his butler. This would prove to be interesting.

"...I'll take you to my son's room." Lucas didn't say a word about the catastrophe of the room and entered into a different room, gesturing for the others to follow. They followed him through more rooms and stopped in front of a door in a hallway. There were a crowd of shaky servants, staring at the scratches-covered door.

"Sir!" A maid glanced at the duke, sweat thick on her skin. Her hair was in disarray.

"...Is Lance's condition still the same?" He wearily asked.

The woman nodded grimly, "Yes, Master."

The man appeared ashamed, but nonetheless turned to the group, "Since I cannot open the door without having you to hear the explanation of what had happened to my boy, I'll do so now." Sounds of scratching and loud, crazed high-pitched giggling suddenly erupted, causing Ciel to jump, startled. Thumping followed.

"...Please ignore the noises." Lucas stated as he turned around once more and gestured them to follow again, "But this is where my son is in, just you know, Lady Exorcist."

Kagome looked at him expectably as she easily kept up with his now hurried pace. Her butler was right behind, with the earl and his servant following. As they climbed the stair, Lucas finally let go of his embarrassed silence, "It was a year ago that my wife passed away from an illness. My son was only seven then. He hadn't spoken much since and barely played as much. I worried, of course." Lucas opened a door to an office he apparently hardly used and allowed them in.

They took their seats and Ciel found himself sitting next to the silent lady. He then realized how uncomfortable the near presence was, for some reason. He wasn't sure why.

The duke was the only one that hadn't taken his seat and instead was standing before a large window, watching the cloudy sky, "It wasn't until a week ago that a priest came and visited-he was the same man who had spoken for Lillian, my wife's funeral."

"A priest?" Kagome interrupted, suspicion written all over her face.

Lucas nodded as he turned around and stared on the desk, thoughtful, "Yes. I think he had a young boy with too. Anyway, that boy was gone to play with my boy and the priest and I spoke over an old friend of mine who passed away in recent months. It was nay but ten minutes when the father called out for the boy and left." The duke sighed, as he was getting his muddled mind in order, "It wasn't until then that I saw my son walking to me and _spoke_. You can imagine how glad I was when I finally heard his voice for over a year."

He paused, sorrow shone brightly in his eyes. Lucas then took a deep breath before continuing, "But...what he said...struck me as odd."

Kagome cocked her head and opened her mouth to say something but Ciel was quick, "What was odd?"

Lucas looked away and then stared at a small painting on a wall from his left, "He said, and I still could remember it clearly, 'Mother is here!'-that were the very words he told me and he just went back to his room, with that strange smile on his face." He closed his eyes and whispered out, "That was when everything went wrong."

"It was that night, where the strange noises were heard from my boy's room. At first we thought he was moving his toy box-he does that at times-but it wasn't until we started to hear moaning and groaning." Lucas looked up, tears glistering in his old eyes, but he didn't allow others to see, "We found him pretty ill-he was holding his stomach and started to reject his dinner. We panicked, of course. I had my butler to call for a doctor. Oddly...He got better in that very moment...But..." Lucas hesitantly trailed off.

"He wasn't himself, is that correct?" Kagome commented, bored, her folded hands that once were on her laps had clenched before her Cat toys. Whether it was over apprehensive or something else, she already seemed frustrated.

"Yes. He only got worse over time -good heavens, he even knows how to crawl on the walls and the ceiling and started to attack people! His own father included!" Lucas chocked back a sob, "I went out of my way to find a way to get rid whatever it was that was harming my own son. From doctors to priests! None were able to do a thing! It wasn't until that a dear friend of mine, another priest, recommended you-it was him that told me that you're a little girl that was able to casted out many unnatural beings." He paused, looking closely at her, "I was desperate-I didn't care that I should be skeptic. I just want my son back." His voice grew to quiet.

Kagome mused out, "Another priest?"

Shippou reached out and whispered into her ear, "He must be the same one that we helped out some time ago, milady. Father Samuel, I believe." He returned to his original position, straightening up his back. They discounted the first man mentioned, as Luke's tone changed with the gentleman with the unknown boy.

"Ah." Kagome nodded, "I see-so you weren't able to take him out of this building then?" She asked out, her voice firm. She was referring having the son moving to a church for a proper catholic exorcism.

Lucas shook his head, "Not without having him wounding somebody, no. He tore out the restrictions when we last attempted that, and wounded a young man. We hadn't since did so again, in fear of having him someone."

This entire time, Ciel and Sebastian was watching and listening with eager ears.

"I don't suppose you'd know what caused this...transformation into your son then?" Shippou pondered aloud.

Again, Lucas shook his head, "Not a thing."

Kagome stood up, "Well, I guess I need to have a look-see on this boy of yours. Eight, correct?" She didn't give him an opportunity to protest at her rush to see his son.

Shippou stood up and bowed to the duke with a smile, "Thank you for hiring milady's service-she'll take care of whatever that plagued your son." With that, he turned on his heels and quickly followed the retreating little lady.

Hesitating, Ciel and Sebastian bowed to the noble man before they too followed.

Lucas then pulled out his chair and slumped. He laid his head on the desk and started to sob.

The Lady Exorcist was his last hope-if she couldn't do it then...

He may have to put his son out of the misery himself. No matter how hard it would be.

**THELOVELESS**

As they walked in a hallway, getting ever the closer to that certain room, Kagome spoke out, without a warning, "I heard someone cried out for help the second I came here."

Shippou nodded, "I see- did you know who it was?" He was alert, scanning for any danger that may harm the lady exorcist.

Kagome shook her head, "No, but it was a woman's voice and I have good reasons to believe that it's the mistress, the mother. Duchess Lillian Noel."

Ciel was quick to catch up to them, his ears catching her words, "You have heard her?" He asked skeptically, with the dark-haired butler on his heels. Could the exorcist be so closely alike to a reaper?

Kagome managed to say one word to affirm his question when she was focusing on a mental preparation, "Yes."

He said nothing, but was currently observing and acknowledging the fact that they reached the room of the supposedly possessed boy. Only the echoes of the footsteps were heard in the still hallway. Sebastian was amused.

Ciel could hear the giggling and other odd noises the closer they get. He was already unnerved and realized he was holding his breath and had to force himself to release it, attempting to calm himself down. Ciel's heart was pounding rapidly within his chest.

Someone, _Lance_, was thumping against the door loudly with the wood creaking loudly with the force of each hit. The female servants whimpered, the males trying to comfort them, as they all stared at the closed door. Their shoulders shook with fear. Their heads turned, having witnessed the Lady Exorcist was approaching and they quickly parted a way for her and her company, never saying a word.

If Kagome ever bother to look at their faces, she'd see an expression of some skeptic and others hopeful and desperate. She stopped before a man, a steward, and asked, "Am I safe to assume that the boy wasn't bounded?" She never met his eyes, choosing instead to look at the door.

Startled, the elder male shook his head, "No, madam."

"I see." Kagome murmured out absently. She petted one of her Cat dolls before putting it away within her cloak. She then faced the door, "Open the door." Her voice was firm, her eyes hardened with determination.

The servants blanched in surprise and the steward protested, "You'll get hurt!"

Ciel stared. He was unsure whether if he should interfere or not. However, seeing her so...confident with her work that he decided that it was better not to and stood back. Sebastian was smiling; amusement was dancing in his eyes.

Why was he smiling?

The male flinched as he saw her eyes suddenly turned on him, icy. He gulped and nodded without a word. He went to unlock the door and pushed open the door. The man pulled back his hand like it was burnt and scurried backward into the group of the house employees.

The door creaked, ever so slowly opening. The second _it_ heard the door unlocking, had creased making noises. The quiet held thick, until the door was wide enough for _it_ to see the people before the room.

It used that second to leap quickly at that little girl in the black, with the jaws wide and the hands fiercely ready to claw her in pieces.

Shippou, Sebastian, and the male servants couldn't move fast enough to take her out of the way.

Kagome was quicker...Too quick for someone her age.

She pulled out a fistful of white..._something_ and dashed it to the face, "Demon, be still!" She sidestepped as it grabbed its' face. It curled into a ball as it crashed into the wall with a loud _thud_!

The maids wailed and fled at the sight of their young master, along with more cowardly men fleeing. Only two of the household male servants remained, their faces wet with nervous sweat. They watched him...no, _it_ growling in pain. It clawed and shook its head to get rid of whatever it was that got into the eyes and the mouth. It could still taste the burning, bitter flavor coating its tongue and skin.

Ciel stepped back, as his visible eye grew wide at the sight of it, "What the bloody hell is this?!" He could easily taste his bile in the back of his throat. No one answered.

The steward gulped and looked at the young exorcist, "What did you do to him?"

Kagome watched him closely and she doesn't appear to care enough to reply back. She surprised him, "I just threw a fistful of blessed salt on his face. Most demons don't usually like salt, for one reason or another." She eyed it closely as she gestured her butler to come closer to it, "This boy is most definitely possessed by one."

She was right -it was obvious with the once-boy's appearance. His face was ash-pale with dark rings around his sunken eyes, expressing how much sleep he had lost since he was first possessed. His eyes were entirely black, glittering angrily and greedily with the light's reflections. His now ashen nails grew long, brittle and cracked and his teeth turned to sharp points and darkened to a sickly yellow color. His tongue was the same color of his nails, a sickly ashy complexion. His clothing was ripped and shredded, leaving many holes and exposing the skin underneath. Skin that was covered in blood.

Ciel felt his stomach twist in distaste at the boy's appearance as it let out several bone-chilling wails when it was attempting to get rid of the salt from his body. Kagome tossed yet more of the grainy material on it, resulting in more of pained cries fleeing from its' throat. She looked up to her butler who remained close by, "Shippou, find something to restrain him with, preferably a chair."

The redhead bowed, with an arm across his chest, "Yes, milady." He straightened up and looked at the steward, "Do you have a strong chair? Oh! And some chains, perhaps?" He said it with such a bright smile that it dazzled the two servants somewhat.

The younger man quickly nodded, "Um, um, yes, I'll go and find the chains!" With that, he turned his heels and ran toward a destination in his mind. The steward then bowed to Shippou, "I do have some chairs in mind, but I'm afraid I have no idea which one is the sturdiest."

Shippou just smiled at him, "Well, let me have a look at them, then." He then turned his head to glanced at his lady, "Milady, are you sure you'll be okay with Master Phantomhive and Mr. Michaelis?"

Kagome waved him off, not removing her eyes on the _thing_ that resided within the boy, lest it'd attack in that split second alone. She knew better, after all.

Shippou nodded before he went to follow the steward.

She dashed the salt upon the possessed one once more. When she was sure that _it_ would not dare to lash out or throw a possibly murderous tantrum with the fear of getting more of the burning materials as a punishment, she glanced to the pair, "As the Queen's Watchdogs, your job is to be her personal detectives, isn't that right?"

Rising a brow, neither was sure of just what she was getting at.

"Go and make yourself useful-I'd like to know exactly just what the cause of the possession." Ever since she heard about this priest and the boy that was with him just minutes prior, she grew suspicious. The last seven exorcisms she did were too much of a coincidence. Kagome admitted she should have push harder at the cause of every possession-but then again, she was never good of a detective from the start. She just never asked, never really thought about it, and simply assumed that the victims brought it on themselves for playing with the forces of supernatural. The little lady focused more on supernatural natures, but not of humans', it simply wasn't her area.

Kagome made a mental note to ask Shippou to look into each of those seven cases after this. Perhaps that priest and the boy had something to do with those cases too.

Ciel blanched at that, offended, "Why should I? I'm not some tool to be used around!" He hissed out at the tiny girl.

She shifted her eyes back to the growling and moaning boy, "I cannot leave him alone. My butler is not available. And you are here. Don't you want to make yourself useful than to be an idling bystander?"

Ciel glared so she continued on, never once removing her eyes from the possessed boy, "Think of this as a game-if you do find out the cause of this, I'll tell you a little bit about your butler. If you haven't found the cause by the time I cast out the spirit out of this boy, well, you don't seem like to be the type that is fond of losing." Her voice was barely above whisper.

Sebastian frowned at that, but said nothing.

It was tempting. Really, really tempting. The information that she would provide could be really useful into irritating the seemingly cool butler. Lady Kagome did come across as a sort who would know more about demons and their natures than anyone else. After all, it was her duty to know, wasn't it? With that in mind, he crossed his arms, "If this is a game then it needs rules, does it not?" Ciel was all for the games, if it meant getting something for himself.

Kagome nodded her head briefly, "Ah- you're correct." Once, for several seconds, she glanced at the pair from the corner of her eyes before retreating back to the ill boy, "Find the answer for yourself. Don't depend on your butler for it."

Great. Open mouth, insert foot.

He mumbled out an affirmative answer, deciding that the former boy's room would be the good place to start. Ciel entered, kicking off the broken furniture and large wood splinters out of the way and also to vent out a tantrum he wanted so badly to throw. He ignored his butler, who was still following him despite being forbid to request help from Sebastian.

This room reeked of a week-old vomit and sickness. He was disgusted, his stomach shuttered. Nonetheless, it was just a mere feat to ignore the stink.

His eye landed on the well-worn toy-box and recalled the fact that the boy had a habit of moving the large item around. Ciel deduced that perhaps there would be something of importance hidden within it.

He fiddled around with the iron lock that stubbornly held the box airtight.

Ciel murmured out a curse when he realized that the possessed boy must had a key somewhere. If it wasn't for that blasted rule that the Lady Exorcist had set upon him, he'd have Sebastian to break it. Ciel sighed, knowing it was fruitless to be angry. He still wanted to wipe that smirk off his butler's face though.

He heard approaching footsteps and looked back to where the little lady and the... _it_ was. Ciel spotted Shippou with a chair in his hands and the panting manservant holding heavy-looking chains wrapped around his arms stopping before Kagome. The old steward wasn't with them.

"Missus, we got what you requested." The redheaded butler said, with that arrogant smile.

Kagome nodded, "We'll do the exorcism in the lobby room." She waved her hand to _it_, "Don't let your eyes off from him. I'll go ahead and start planning the ritual." The lady walked away breezily. She never once checked on Ciel, much less to tell him that his time was running out to find the answer.

It made Ciel to feel degraded somehow, even though he was quite sure it was just how Kagome is.

"Yes, milady." Shippou nodded, his eyes loyally followed the back of the Exorcist until she vanished from his view. He looked back to the exhausted manservant, "Mind taking the chair too? I need to take the boy. I'll need to restrain him." Without pausing for the poor man's response, he placed the hefty furniture before him. The servant let out a moan.

Ciel took his eye off from them, realizing that he needed to find the key and fast. He ignored the screeches erupting from _it_ and ignored what sounded like skin slashing open. The servant struggled noisily as he tried to move the chair himself, with chains in his arms. Altogether, it was ghastly but he will win this _game_ at any cost. If it cost him his hearing then so be it.

Ciel dashed over to a toppled desk, thinking that maybe the key would be hidden in there somehow. He checked for any secret drawer but nothing. It was just an original desk, as it were. He let out a frustrated grunt.

He wouldn't admit it but he wanted to see this 'ritual' Kagome spoke of. That was why he came for after all. Seeing whether if she was for real or not.

Sebastian had a bit of hard time not to laugh at the master's frustration. So amusing! He knew where it was but pondered on whether if it wasn't against the rule for giving the hint. He knew that the little lady of the Higurashi family knew things about him but just how much, he wondered.

It was the truth that he does not want his master, his _meal_, to know about him any more than necessary.

Yet he was curious of just how _much_ she know.

"Milord, would giving you a hint be against the rule?"

Ciel paused, a torn blanket in his hands as he was in a progress of destroying the bed, or at least what left of it. _It_ had done quite a large amount of damage to the room. He slowly looked back, "...She said I shouldn't depend on you...But she never said anything about you not helping me out for your own reasons..." If Ciel was anything, it would be that he's an expert on loopholes.

He gestured him to spit the supposed hint out.

Sebastian pointed to a pile of splinters of what used to be a chair with the cushion surprisingly in intact. Ciel mutely went to the pile, kneeling, and shifted through it, taking care to not allow the sharp wood to pierce his hands. He spread it all out on the floor but couldn't see the key. He turned to glare at the butler, who merely stared intensely at the cushion. The earl realized that the key may be hidden within the pillow.

He flipped the item over and frowned, seeing no possible opening for the metal tool to be hidden in. He needed something to shred the silk-clad cushion apart. Ciel's only weapon was his gun. It wasn't something sharp, so he couldn't use it. Not only that but it may trigger a reaction no one truly wanted, whatever the reaction may be.

Ciel knew Sebastian sometime carries kitchen knives but as per the rule, he opted not asking him. That hint was enough and that he felt that he'd lose this _game_ by overstepping his boundary.

'Wood splinters!' He thought, just as his eye landed on the pile. Few looked sharp enough and is big enough to resembled a stake, though he might end up having some pricks in a hand or both. He wanted to win, his pride demanded it. It'd be worth the pain, he decided.

Ciel grabbed a stake-like splinter and jabbed the cushion with it. He inwardly winced when the rough wood pierced his skin but as the white cotton revealed itself, Ciel ignored the pain. Tossing the stake aside, he pulled apart the silky item and a key fell out. He wondered just _how_ the key came to be in the cushion but figured that maybe there was a hidden pocket in the former cushion he missed.

Grabbing it within his wounded hand, he stood up and rushed to the bloody toybox. The young earl jiggled the lock opened with the key and it finally unclasped. He then popped open the top and peered down to the toy-filled box, his knees on the floor.

Ciel shuttered out, "Bunch of dolls-strange for a boy truly." Now that he looked at them some more, they looked the same and they also looked handmade. _'Real hair?_' He rubbed the textures together before pulling his hands back as if burnt.

"They're real hair! What the bloody hell?!"

True, some toys do possessed real hair, especially the porcelain dolls, but nowadays, even that was beginning to be scarce. His company long since phased the uses of it preferring to use straightened wools instead.

Sebastian looked on him curiously, "What's the matter, milord?" He walked over to his master and looked down, blinking.

"I'm beginning to think that Lance was just mad in the head from the start..." Ciel murmured. That still didn't explain the strength that _it_ suddenly wielded, no mere boy would be able to do all of the damages!

Sighing in disgust, he went back shifting along the box, trying not to think about the strange usage of hair. He felt a hand hitting a hard, flat object, he blinked and took it out of the box. "Say...what is this?"

The object contained bold English letters in alphabetical order, had a set of numbers, a 'yes', a 'no', a 'hello', and a 'good bye' in an old font with an arrow-looking wooden item stuck on the brownish gray-colored material. It also had several pentagrams, some looking very similar to the one he held in his hidden eye, and a smiling skull in ghastly-looking black ink. It felt of a hard, rusted metal, with papery material covering it. Suddenly, it was snatched out of his hands, "Master! Be careful with it!" Sebastian told him, his eyes glaring accusingly at the item that he was grasping.

Ciel glanced at the odd object, "What is it?"

"You humans called it an Ouija board." The butler replied, his fingers clenching it tightly-the disguised nails leaving thin, long nicks on the material.

"Ouija board?!" Ciel heard of it, a device that was supposedly made by the great devil himself, Lucifer, when the fallen angel had manipulated a man from the East to produced the device to invite the hellish minions to the human plane sometime in late 1200 B.C. to cause destruction, "Would that be the cause of Lance's possession?" The young master remembered a religious teacher of his was teaching a lesson on the such object, when he still was innocent. That lesson stuck in his memories even then.

"Yes. I'd like to destroy it." He spat out, disgust written within his throat.

Ciel shook his head, "No, we need to show it to Lady Higurashi first. Beside...why do you want to destroy it so? You're a devil too."

At that, Sebastian gristly smiled, "I do not need others to try and steal my meal from me, that is all."

Ciel wished he hadn't asked.

He turned his heels and rushed off to find the exorcist. His butler followed.


	9. Trapped Demon

**Chapter Nine:  
><strong>_Trapped Demon_

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><p><em><span>(Dedications<span>_: _cherryvampiress, HaruhiandHikaru, ChocolateBunnyChan, UnstableFable, AnimeFreakAmanda, HollowPntSmile, and all of you who have reviewed, alerted, and read The Loveless! Thank you! I sincerely hope that all of you will still be with me until the end!)_

**Formerly Beta'd by: **_NarutoFanProductions_

**Currently Beta'd by**_: inuluvskags1_

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><p>The possessed boy snarled and spat, the chains that held him strained with his extraordinary strength. His legs were both tied to the supports of the chair with chains so he could not move the furniture piece at all. The boy's face was wet with sweat as he snapped his teeth at whatever he could reach. He struggled once more.<p>

"It's different from the last one." Kagome pondered quietly, closing her eyes in thought. She ignored her butler that stood next to her as she pet her Cats absently in her arms. The manservant fled after setting down the hefty piece of furniture. The steward still hadn't returned.

The steward...

Hm, strange.

She needed her butler, as of now. She couldn't possibly send the Queen's mutts after him either-they still were her guests, even out of her own home.

"Missus?" Shippou looked down at her, curiosity shone from his eyes.

She opened her eyes and glanced at him, "I know." Kagome placed the Cats into his hands, pulling out something thin and white. The Lady Exorcist stepped forward and bent down. She started to draw a huge circle around the possessed one on the wooden floor. Under her breath, she chanted a language foreign even to her.

She completed the circle and started to draw a line in it when Ciel and Sebastian appeared. Ciel blinked at her, wondering what in the world she was doing. He coughed a little, earning Kagome's attention, pausing in... whatever she was doing, "Erm, I believe we may have found whatever caused _this_." He tilted his head toward Lance to show what he meant.

Sebastian showed the Ouija board to her.

Kagome sighed, nodding. She waved it away, allowing Shippou to take it in his hands from the dark-haired butler. She resumed drawing and chanting.

"I f you wish to stay then please step away from the circle." Shippou told them, his eyes never strayed far from his lady.

She completed three lines now. Ciel felt a chill coming up in his spine and into his head as the cold realization dawned on him, "She's...drawing a pentagram?!"

Shippou murmured out an affirmative response, "Well, it is preferred as a pentacle, given it is upside down and into a circle." He mentioned absently.

"Why is she doing that?!" Ciel hissed out, unsure if that is safe. He stepped forward but the red haired man stopped him.

"It's also a way to get rid of the demon that was within the boy. The pentagram, or pentacle as the correct term, can be used for many things, if done properly. She has experiences with it. Don't you fret." There was acknowledgment in his tone; another chill overtook Ciel's body.

His suspicions turned out to be correct- they already knew about his contract with a devil- a devil that was his butler, that he named Sebastian, after his deceased family dog.

Although he was chilled at the idea, he had to force himself not to smile.

Kagome Higurashi, the Lady Exorcist, was a total mystery.

Ciel Phantomhive loved mysteries.

He couldn't wait to unveil that mystery for himself.

For now, he would need to wait. Kagome finally completed the circle and stood up, "Demon of the Unnamed..." A strip of paper appeared within her hand, thick dry ink bled right through to the other side. It boldly stated its' foreignness, "Do you desire to return to your home?"

The possessed boy hissed out. Negative.

Kagome let out a silent sigh, they never made anything easy for her. They never did.

The paper found itself plastered on the demon boy's forehead-it screamed. The dry ink seemed to bleed, trickling over the damp face.

The chains moaned loudly as the bounded hands started to shake against the armrests- the boy's entire body was trembling, "Í͡t̨̧̕h͢**_u_**r̵̢͞͡͠t̛́s!͞" Unnatural voice erupted out from the throat.

"Of course it hurts. Sounds like you don't do well against the blessed ink. Mind getting out yet?" The little exorcist asked; her face dangerously close.

"Milady..." Her butler warned, worry painted itself across his expression. The little girl just ignored him, never giving him a single glance.

The demon-in-boy suddenly gashed the unnatural teeth at her so to attempt tearing the flesh off from that porcelain doll-like face. The lady merely pulled her face back, never flinching. "Heh- a stubborn one." Kagome murmured out, her sharp eyes leering.

The ink flowed over its' face like a river and completely blinded him-it. The paper remained surprisingly dry. Kagome pulled off a glove as she stepped toward the roaring demon boy.

It seemed to know.

It started speaking what sounded like a complete gibberish-though the awed Ciel recognized it, "Latin?"

Sebastian nodded mutely. He was irritated by the lack of intelligence of the spirit within the human boy. Nonetheless, it was being rather vulgar towards the youthful exorcist, unhappy of being forced out of what it saw as its home.

A slap on the hard, wet flesh echoed out in the still air. The gibberish reduced to a pathetically weak whimper. The pale, sickly skin trembled underneath the hand, forming a darker bruise upon the forehead, "The one who has no name, I expel you from the living tomb you _possess_!" Her usual fragile volume increased on every word until she was loud enough to be heard by the hiding staff within the manor at the final word.

The possessed boy screamed inhumanly. The earl watched, while wincing at the high-pierced volume. Kagome stepped away, removing her hand from the person.

Ciel pressed his wounded hand against his mouth as he willed himself not to throw up his early breakfast on the damaged floor. It was disgusting to see yet he could not look away from the gruesome sight. Sebastian narrowed his dark eyes-as if daring something to attack him.

"Don't tempt it, devil of the hell." Kagome cryptically snapped, eyes remaining on the shrieking boy. The ugly dark spirit crawled its way out from the mouth, stretching the jaws apart with its' thorny claws, to escape the pain that the exorcist set upon it. The spirit quivered, the tiniest pores bled out blackly, as the last of the body left the maws of the human boy. The disgusting being stood on the boy's face, trembling, its' gray skin a sickly hue. It glared at the group. The beady eyes burning lavas.

Kagome stepped out of the circle and went to her servant, never removing her eyes off from it.

The creature opened its alligator-like mouth and emitted a growl filled with hot hate. Promptly, it leapt off the unconscious boy, toward the little girl with a dark smile. A veil of light flickered as it rammed into something invisible soundly.

It would be a humorous sight, if it wasn't so hideous to look at. Even so, Sebastian and Shippou stifled a chuckle.

The spirit got up from the wooded floor, blabbing gibberish again, as it looked around on the glowing white pentagram. The long, scaly jowled neck swung all around doltishly as it looked for an exit. There was none. Kagome sighed, "Not very bright, are you?" She shook her head, "Go bye-bye or I'll make you." She was being rather childish, she knew, but she wanted this stupid thing to give her more of a challenge. Ignoring a pointed look from the green-eyed male, she watched the being prodded around the white barrier.

The spirit was pretty stupid- stupid as a rock.

"..." She stared at it hard. Ciel looked at her quizzically, unsure of what she was doing. After several brief minutes of watching the creature trying to figure out what it should do next, Kagome hadn't any more patience.

She kneeled before the circle and muttered something out. The little lady stood up and plucked Lilith from Shippou's arms and kneeled back down. "Lilith." The stuffed white Cat knew and opened the mouth, revealing rows of sharp white triangles. Ciel stepped back, surprised.

He knew for a fact that it wasn't made with teeth. Ciel was there when the maker first made it and wand there when the old coot completed it. There were no dangerous materials whatsoever within the white plush toy. So, how did that happen?

Kagome pricked herself on a finger from touching the needlelike edge. A bead of blood grew. Sebastian eyed her, something heinous sparked within his red, glowing orbs. The beast's flat nose flared.

Roars erupted. Talons raking over starching barrier, its long tongue whipped all over as it tried to go after the source of the bittersweet smell, though it was to no avail. Desires overtook its foul mind. "Hell was the source of blood, wasn't it?" Kagome looked up; the flat line of her lips seemed to curved up enigmatically, as the pricked finger dripped a spot of blood on the chalked line of the circle.

The white of the circle trimmed dark red. The greedy noises turned to a panicked cry as it realized what was going on. It was going home, a home it fled from. A home it didn't want.

Something small opened-a portal perhaps-and what seemed like an inky chain wrapped around a foot like a striking snake and started to pull it into the hole. It slammed a claw into the floor as it attempted to stay. It was crying out for help that wouldn't come. The claw shredded the wood, leaving behind deep marks and splinters, as its body grew smaller and smaller as it was disappearing within the portal of hell. The chains then went to strangle the monstrous being to pull the rest of the body in.

The dark spirit was gone. The redness of the once-glowing circle was departed back to the pure white. The boy remained in the chair in the middle of the circle, still bound with the coiling shackles. His appearance of formerly possessed returned to the norm. The boy, the son of the duke, moaned out tiredly, his eyes fluttering open.

"Shippou, get rid of the chains." She promptly ordered as she pulled on the glove, ignoring the dewing blood staining the cloth. The man obeyed with a cheerful smile, swiftly attending to his lady's command. The young earl and his own butler stood back, awed and speechless at what had just happened. Heavy metal thudded on the floor with a bellowing echo, as Shippou released the boy from the metal bindings. Lance blinked his eyes, panting, as he lifted a heavy hand to wipe the sweat from his brows. He seemed bewildered but utterly exhausted. As his foggy sights cleared, he saw the red-haired man looking down on him, "Who are you?!" He yelped out. His throat was so parched.

Many of the servants of the household were slowly trickling in. All were baffled but still very glad to see their young master back to normal, "Master!" An elderly maid gasped out as she flew to him, pushing Shippou out of the way, to look at him fully, "Master...Are you alright?"

Shippou muttered.

Lance blinked at her, "... I... guess I am? What happened?"

The old maid released a relieved sigh before she straightened up, looking straight in eyes of a manservant, "Go get Master Noel! _Now!_"

The man yelped out, "Yes, madam!" He bolted up the stairs.

The group of many servants burst in chatter, mostly in admiration of the little girl's skills. Few, though, sounded fearful, unsure, of just who Kagome really was.

"Is that the devil's child I've been hearing about?" A woman told another quietly, her eyes direful. Her friend nodded, trembling.

Kagome shut her eyes, ignoring the talk, even if it was mostly praise. She just needed to stay long enough to speak with Lucas and then she'd leave. Ciel glanced at her, pondering, _Devil's child?_ He too heard those nosy pair. _Why call her such a thing?_

Kagome Higurashi was just a child! Beautiful and wrapped in mysteries, yes, but she was still a child...Admittedly, he had received some unsavory nicknames himself, due to his time in underworld. Still, they were nothing compared to what she had. Devil's child was a bit too much, even though it didn't seem like it was an awful insult-but words such as those could hurt the self-esteem horribly. He heard more names and had to forced himself not to react.

Only _he_ should have such names. Not the girl-child.

_Devil's child!_ An old crone reminded him in his mind.

She didn't seem to be bother by it, so he'd shrug it off for another day. Still, it seemed that she really did have a reputation in the underworld as well, like she said she did. He'll need to remember to look into it. How was it that he never once heard of her? Granted, Ciel wasn't interested in anything of religious and supernatural nature...

Ciel then looked at Shippou and saw that he had a grimace on his face. Shippou looked as if he was having a hard time controlling himself over those ridiculous rumors. Raising a brow, he looked away as he pondered on this discovery.

It appeared that despite the duties the redhead butler truly did care for his lady, unlike Sebastian to Ciel. He was a little envious of that fact. Ciel was no fool-he knew Sebastian just saw him as his food and merely did what he needed to do to get that meal.

Kagome opened her eyes as the master bellowed out, "_Be quiet!_ Get back to your chores!" The servants scurried away. A few whined a little about wanting to stay so to see what will happen next. Nosy bunch, they were.

Lucas flew down the stairs, though Kagome noticed that the steward still wasn't anywhere nearby.

The large man stopped before his seated son, panting. His eyes were glistening, "My son...?"

Lance looked at him confusedly, "...?"

"Oh!" The duke grabbed him and wrapped his arms around the boy's tiny body. Startled and unsure, the boy weakly returned the hug, still exhausted. He still didn't have a clue why he was so tired.

"My son..." Lucas wept, cradling his son's damp head.

"Father..." Lance frowned when he felt the touch of tears on his damp skin. His stubby fingers tightened around his father's wrinkled clothes as he tried his best to give his father the greatest hug he could possibly give in this state.

After a moment of silence, Lucas released his son and pushed his shoulders back so he could fully look at Lance's face, "Don't you ever do that again!" His tone held a superiority tone.

Lance blinked, "But father, I didn't even know what I did- or what happened even!"

Kagome cleared her throat, grabbing their attentions, "I'll explain." She gestured the dark haired butler to display the Ouija board to the pair, "This is a-" She got interrupted.

"I played with it! A kid came by and gave me that! I talked to my mother with it!" Lance excitedly, or as excited as the exhausted kid could get, told them as he pointed at it. Lucas flinched, unsure if that was the cause for all of the horrible things that happened in his home, to his son.

Kagome shook her head, "More than likely you didn't talk to your mother-you talked to a monster instead- an imposter." She used the term monster mainly to get the clear point across to this dull-brained kid. Lance flinched, fear infecting his face, as the pretty girl continued, "This is an Ouija board, a device to communicate with supernatural forces... Often, it lets loose demons in the house, dark poltergeists so to speak, or possessions by evil spirits, demons, instead. Hardly ever does anyone get to speak with deceased friends and family members."

The Lady Exorcist gave the boy a pointed look, "That was what happened with him-he wished to speak with his mother but instead gotten himself his own body overtaken by a monster."

Lance gave a gulp, "So that's why I couldn't remember anything...Or why I'm so tired and achy." He then gave a long whine as he found himself yawning-the edges of his lips ached horridly. Lucas wanted to punish him for playing with such a strange item, but instead decided that he had been punished enough. Lucas sighed as he pulled him into another hug.

"So the boy that came in...He gave you this, Lance?" The father asked as he rubbed in smoothing circles on his son's back.

Lance nodded numbly, "Hmhmm...He did."

"Do you have his name, Lance?" Ciel asked, his arms crossed.

"No." Lance shook his head then he pleaded with his ample father to pick him up. Lucas complied, picking him up and laid his head on his shoulder-cradling him in his arms.

"Do you remember what he looks like?" Ciel questioned. He was curious.

"Umm...look a lot like the pretty girl. But with brown eyes and a little shorter." Lance muttered out, pointing at Kagome as she was the 'pretty girl'. Kagome and Shippou blinked in surprise before looking at each other in question.

"I...see..." The earl nodded, looking over the older man's shoulder for no particular reason. He let out a yelp and fell on his bottom when he realized what was there.

"I see you saw her." Kagome murmured. She was holding both Lilith and Damien in her arms. Ciel shook his head, shuttering from shock. Sebastian, frowning, helped him up. Shippou was amused.

"...?" Lucas looked back.

"Mommy!" Lance squealed out in delight.

**THELOVELESS**

A small being frowned, watching from the bush. The pair of tired bright brown eyes observed through the window, calculating. The group within was interacting with a female ghost, the child and the father were crying with her in their arms. "So...the devil's child came after all. I knew it!" The older bearded man cursed out as he watched intently on the duke next to the young boy.

The skinny, small male realized that the steward couldn't see the ghost at all.

_He's blinded to everything, but the monsters that lurk in the dark, _the young boy sighed, _You betrayed your own master for what? Money? Jealousy? Still it was a foolish idea to try and curse your master's son-an innocent-with a weak demon._ He frowned at that thought. _Mr. Steward-I hope you'll get what you deserve. _The boy wanted to glare at him but knew that it wasn't a wise idea to do so-his own master always seemed to know every one of his actions. Maybe the boy's master had spies upon the spy.

The brown-eyed child wouldn't be so surprised to know that his own master didn't trust him all of that much.

"Shit! Shit!" The steward cursed out and the boy flinched at the vulgarity, "What am I supposed to do?! I wanted him to suffer! That brat was supposed to die!" He punched the bark of the tree before wincing at his idiotic action.

_Stupid._ The boy rolled his eyes, before returning to watch the group he was studying, "If I may ask...Why?"

The steward glared at the envoy, "You little rat, he was the one that killed my love of my life!"

_Who?_

The steward went back to glowering at the stocky duke from behind the glass, "My Lillian..." He moaned out with sorrow rich within his voice.

_Lillian? The fat man's dead wife? Wow, fool._ The boy sighed, a hand on the rough bark as he shouldered against it, "Very well, I'll go report this to the Prophet. Take care and good luck next time-if you still wish to take your revenge, please take some time to speak with the Prophet." He told him, not daring to look at him in disgust, and instead keeping his chocolate-hued eyes on the young girl. The exorcist.

_I'm so sorry._

The child forced himself to turn away and trekked his way back to an exit the steward uncovered for him. The young boy left without another word to the man, never once saw that the two butlers within the manor had already acknowledged their presences. Their eyes discreetly watched them beyond from their places.

The man, still looking murderous after the heavy duke from the glass, again, was unable to see the ghost of Lillan. The grateful spirit kissed her husband and her son a good bye before she disappeared within thin air…like a fading frosted breath in the winter.

**THELOVELESS**

Kagome told the duke two things before they left the manor. She told him this, "Your steward...I believe he is not what he seems to be-do not trust him. Look into his records one more time. That is all I can tell you." She then told him to sent rest of the money through the mail. Lucas agreed, thanking her once more as he bid them farewell. He was curious as of why Kagome was wary of his favored manservant. He decided to trust her words and be on guard of the man from now on.

Sebastian opened the door of the carriage for the youngsters. Sebastian leered at the redhead as he allowed the lady's butler to enter before him. The redhead smirked in victory when he took his seat.

The horse carriage creaked for a brief moment before it finally moved; the powerful horses whinnied with determination as they pulled their weight.

Ciel was now unsure of what to say.

Kagome was a real-deal exorcist and knew many things regarding supernatural forces. Her Cats, the _ones_ that **he** _made_, were alive... Kagome, and perhaps Shippou, already knew about Sebastian, his unnatural butler. She could both see and speak to ghosts too, after being made clear on that after the interesting interaction with the gentle ghost of Lillian Noel.

Oh and she spoke of something about the eighth one.

"That's right, you won that game, didn't you?" Kagome told him, her eyes watching the city that flew. Ciel looked up, blinking, having totally forgotten about the game and the splinters that were in his hand.

"Your butler..." She bent over to Ciel's ear and whispered something in it. Ciel's eyes grew wide as he absorbed the information in. His butler, while he may not look like it, grew nervous. He glared somewhat at the other male. Shippou snickered quietly once he saw the devil's narrowing eyes. Sebastian cursed him inwardly for not allowing him to hear what the lady was saying.

Ciel numbly straightened up and nodded at her, "I see." He didn't want to look at his servant, even though he was somewhat relieved knowing that he had the best protection possible while he's alive. "Thank you."

Kagome waved it away but she frowned once she saw his hand, "You're hurt. Make sure to see a doctor and have it checked out." She lightly touched the young earl's hand as she looked at it closer. He could barely feel the dampness from a finger, remembering the blood the girl herself drew.

Ciel looked away.

He wondered why her hands felt so rough, even through those silk gloves...

* * *

><p>AN: Yes, few things will be explained later-especially the dolls and Lillian's ghost scene so don't worry about it.

Thanks again for all of your alerts, favorites, and reviews!

I did a fanart (such a loser am I, hahah), I'd link it in my profile but ffnet was screwing around so…here it is:

: / / fav . me / d4svio1

(please close the spaces!)

I also did an oneshot, a spinoff to this work, called "The Loveless: The Little Black Bird" so if you haven't read it…Well, please read it? It's pretty long though. I 'd appreciate any feedback!

I cannot promise any soon update will be in order due to my school. :c But just remember that it will not be abandoned!

Okay, I'm done rambling, lol. Please do let me know of what you think of this chapter! BP over and out!

**(9.18.13, Chapter 1 to 11 were tweaked slightly for better reading.)**


	10. Opening Act

**Chapter Ten:  
><strong>_Opening Act_

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><p><span>Warning<span>: This _may_ contain spoilers if you haven't yet read the manga-and I also borrowed some scenes and lines, though mostly modified. Don't sue me, please. Thanks! I'm afraid that this is mostly a necessary filler/dialogue chapter so you have, again, my sincerest apologizes.

Beta'd by: **_inuluvskags1_**

_As of **7/2/13**, it was edited of minor errors that I found and changed some odd sentences. Sorry for any concern I may have caused! **Any and all criticisms will be very appreciated!  
><strong>_

* * *

><p>"Honestly…" Ciel scoffed at the thought of the detective who followed the commissioner like a puppy- his name was Abberline, he believed. Ciel developed a habit of forgetting names of those whom he saw as annoyances. The young earl stepped into the carriage, the ladder creaking with the weight with Sebastian following him in.<p>

"Master Abberline would do a better job than the Commissioner. Quite 'tis pity as he's too much of a coward." The butler hummed out, smiling that devious smile Ciel already grew to hate, "Children…"

Ciel quickly informed the driver to get a move on with the banging of his cane against the ceiling, "Yes, as we were requested to investigate…" He mumbled, eyes scanning through the papers he had ordered Sebastian to successfully copy from the library of the Commissioner's building. The Commissioner's _pet_ was none too pleased with their earlier invasion, in order to have the information they needed for the case they were to take on.

"We may believe that they are missing but in the underworld, they might be…" Ciel sighed, finding himself pulling out an envelope with a familiar red wax stamp. He flipped it open and reread it,

_To my darling boy,_

_Did you have a good Christmas? I made Christmas pudding with Phillip. It turned out superbly, and John and Grey heaped their praises upon it too. I do hope you will join us next time, my dear boy. Now to the matter of the tickets I have enclosed. _

_Have you heard about the traveling circus making its' way to London in the upcoming days?_

_They are a traveling troupe that visits various locales. However, the troupe's travels appear to coincide with any number of the children going missing from the towns where they call. The police are doing everything they can to find them, but the whereabouts of the children are still unknown._

_It was as if the children suddenly disappear during the dead of the night…_

_Almost as if…_

_They have been taken away by the pied piper of Hamelin…_

_The sorrow of losing the loved one is insufferable._

_I pray for the swift and safe return of these children to their families._

_-Victoria_

Ciel, the young Earl of Phantomhive, let out a sigh, as he folded it closed and placed it back to his coat pocket.

The butler stated out, "I doubt there's enough information we needed… Should we…?" Sebastian looked at him, waiting for his reply.

Ciel's lips turned to a frown, "I'd rather to avoid it."

Nonetheless…

"Hey, driver! Take us to the Undertaker's building! You know which one." The earl banged the ceiling again, announcing the change in destinations. The driver affirmed his orders and shifted the horses; their hooves never ceased their proud marching.

**THELOVELESS**

They removed themselves from the wooden stagecoach and blinked at the sight of another wagon there, in the same alley. Ciel and Sebastian simply shrugged it off, figuring that it was probably nothing, never once noting the familiarly of it.

Just as the earl was about to put his hand on the knob, he was startled by the loud, memorable shrieking of laughter.

The door opened.

Ciel stared, "You."

It was the same child exorcist, who merely blinked at him. She apparently regained the status of being a mute.

Kagome looked back and the earl followed her gaze. The long haired man was rolling around the dirty, dusty floor, almost appeared as if he was having chest pains. Despite that, he was still shrieking out that hysteric laughter of his and was drooling.

"… I'm not asking." Ciel decided. Lady Higurashi nodded, as if she was satisfied with his answer.

"Ah, pardon me, Mr. Michaelis…" Another familiar voice erupted gently from behind Ciel and he looked back to see that red-haired butler moving in front of Sebastian as the devilish servant moved away, "Excuse me, Earl Phantomhive, I need to see to Lady Kagome...And the Undertaker as well." He sighed, seeing the said person was now smacking his scarred hands on the table as he was heaving in a crazed laughter. He was struggling to get back to his chair behind the desk and failing.

"Pardon us for a moment, please. My apologies for wait. I do understand your needs to speak with him, but we need a moment still. Again, pardon us." Shippou apologized before shutting the door on Ciel.

The earl grumbled out, wondering on what they wanted with the Undertaker.

"Hey, Sebastian, can you…?" He turned to the older man, who in turn shook his head.

"Many apologizes but I cannot hear a thing."

"Tsk!"

They only had to wait for a short while when the door finally opened, with Kagome hurriedly got out of the building, looking somewhat disgusted.

"Thank you, Mr. Undertaker, for taking your time with us and for the information." Shippou bowed to the salivating man on his desk. He turned to the pair, "And thank you for your patience. I'm sorry for any issues we may have posed for you, Earl Phantomhive. Take care now." He rushed to the carriage, where Kagome was currently residing.

"Bye-hahahaaaa-bye now! Come again! Hehehaaaa!" The Undertaker called out, crackling, "Don't forget! I have a coffin custom-made for Lady Kaggy-Birdy! Hahahaaa! I'd love to have her as my eternal company!" The carriage already took off.

"…" That was strange.

Why did Kagome and her butler, Shippou, need to visit the deranged man?

How did they even know each other?

And exactly how did Kagome manage to make the idiot laugh?

Because he would really like to know, honestly.

Unfortunately, as much as he'd like to ask questions, he needed to get down to business.

It was really too bad that Ciel couldn't get a chance to visit Lady Kagome, no thanks to his duties. Duties took the top priority after all.

He entered, followed by Sebastian.

"Heeheheheaaaa…That lovely girl sure does know how tickle my funny bones, hahahaheee…" The Undertaker drooled as he kept on chuckling. He didn't seem to have noticed the extra presences in his building.

"A-hem." Ciel coughed to get his attention, "Undertaker, we need information regarding missing children." The papers smacked loudly on the dusty desk, "I hope you'll be able to provide us more than what the papers could."

"Heheheeee~! You cannot do anything without your butler, eh?" The Undertaker barely looked up as he pointed accursedly at the devil under disguise, "Hahahaaaaa!"

Just what did Kagome do to him?

"Normallyyyyyy, I would ask my priceeeee, heheheeeee~!" The chair protested loudly as the pale-haired man pushed his back against it.

Ciel swallowed thickly, wondering just what the crazy man has in store for him. Sebastian eyed him warily.

"BBBBbbbbbbutttttttt!" The undertaker looked up with a goofy grin, "I won't! Heheheeh~!"

What?

They blinked, shocked at the change.

"That ultra-ultra adorable gal basically paid me more than she needed to anyhow, heheheeeee~! So count yourselves lucky!"

Wait…

What?

"Hold on, hold on! What?" Ciel spat out, eyes wide.

"Lalalaaaaa! Don't you get it? You get it free! Free! So tell me what is it that you need to know, hah!" The white-grey haired male giggled out, flailing his body about.

Speechless all the boy could do was push the stack of the papers to him. Gingerly, the Undertaker took it and flipped through the pages, concealed eyes scanning each and every word. Giggles and chuckles alike still escaped his lips. The item fell onto the desk with a resounding echo, "So children have been disappearing then?" The nameless man grinned as he innocently poked the papers with his long, black nails.

"Yes, they were classified as missing in the polite society." Ciel affirmed, "Their bodies were never found." He also said.

The Undertaker grinned still as he turned around in his seat to grab his statue of a miniature version of a full sized adult skeleton, "Even then, children die every day, more so in the underworld." He tapped on the skull, his hidden eyes gleamed mischievously. The man then kissed it before chucking it against the floor, and it shattered. Pieces of sharp porcelain were carelessly strewn on the ground, and the head, which was the only thing that was mostly unbroken, rolled by, "Why should this be any different?"

Ciel flinched at this unexpected action, the sound was as if it was never-ending in his ears. He saw the skull pulling to a stop on the side, the voids of the eyes watched the pair, "Because the Queen asked me to look into this, that is why."

"Pfft, her again -she's a bit useless, isn't she? And you're a whipped dog, aren't you?" He got off from his seat, "Can you even do anything without either her or that butler of yours?" The Undertaker grinned as he approached Ciel and lowered his head to see that eye.

"Enough!" The earl was getting annoyed. The Undertaker bolted away from him to pick up the broken porcelain skull, "Have you cleaned any of those children up?" Ciel stressed out, glaring.

He smiled eerily, "There aren't any." The mortician turned the cranium to them, "There never were."

"What?" Sebastian and Ciel stared at him in disbelief.

"None of them were among my customers-nor have I heard any rumors of them in the underworld." He replied before turning the skull back to himself, "Isn't that right, my dear?" The Undertaker grinned again, this time to the ceramic item.

"Have we been duped, my master?" The butler glanced down at the increasingly impatient boy. Of course he was ignored.

"What is the meaning of this, Undertaker?!" Ciel scowled, "Have we wasted our time for nothing?"

The oddball of a man hummed, "Of course not- this is terribly useful information, is it not?" He never once looked at them, seemingly too fascinated with the lifeless head in his hands to pay them any attention.

Sebastian nodded, "Indeed it is-p, if you did not know, the fact remains that the children have not been killed in the underworld…"

"If their bodies have not been found in either the outside world or the underworld, the likelihood of the children still being alive is quite high." Ciel finished for him, "In this case we have no other option but to investigate the said circus troupe directly."

He plucked the papers and turned to leave, "Well, that settles it. Come, Sebastian. And Undertaker, contact me if you come across any more information." The butler followed. The door clicked open.

"Milord," The earl glanced back to him, "Take care of your soul, keeheehee~!" Again, the Undertaker never looked once at him.

"I know." With that Ciel was gone, along with his pet.

"Do you really?" He barked out a laugh once as the door slammed closed.

When the laughter slowed, the mortician perched on his cluttered desk, the skull still within his clawed hands, "Keeheehee~You and Lady Kaggy-Birdy would be perfect for my two special coffins~! 'Tis sad you never saw how alike you two are, yet so different~!"

Undertaker mimicked the skull, with a higher pitched voice, "_How so, Mr. Undertaker?_"

"One is loved and one is not! Yet one was being loveless and other is being loved~! Reversal role! Heeheeeekeee!"

"_You are not making any sense, Mr. Undertaker!_" The skull bobbed, as if in confusion.

"I never do anyway! Heeheekee~!" He fell onto his back on the small desk and ending up falling off on his head. The cranium fell from his hands and it finally shattered against the floor, "Awww-I've killed Mr. McSkully Skull." He pouted. It was gone quick, replacing it with a curious expression.

"But the funny thing is…They've asked the same things!" With that he burst into a thunderous laughter.

**THELOVELESS**

"_My dear love, I'm so sorry to leave you and our son behind." She held a sorrowful expression as she held her son to her bosom. Lillan peppered fading kisses on her husband's neck, "But my wish is for you both to be happy without me."_

_Lucas frowned, "But you're my wife! The mother of my son! You were well loved!" He shook his head, "It was very difficult to move on without you here with us." He closed his eyes at the feel of her cold hands. The touches were cold but yet warm at the same time, invoking memories within his head._

_She sighed, "I know. That's why the little girl summoned me-to bring you both closure." Lillian smiled brilliantly, "She heard my cries for help. _Your_ cries for help." The man glanced at the girl, who shut her eyes in acknowledgment but said nothing, "And for that we're in debt to the exorcist for saving all of us."_

_The exorcist's butler immediately shook his head at the ghost's statement, "You hired my lady and she merely did the services in exchange for the payment. That was all." Shippou bowed gratefully, "There is no need for any debt." The girl's lips formed into a thin line as a Cat's ear twitched._

_The woman frowned, "Oh but still…" She nodded then, "Very well then. But at least let us treat you as a friend for us." Lillian glanced at her husband, and murmured, "Do you not agree?" _

_He smiled weakly, "Of course. We'll gladly treat you as a family member from now on." There was no saying no against their agreement and the lady exorcist sighed. She simply resigned to their decision and reminded herself to inform her grandfather of this._

_Lillian sighed, "I don't have long. I only came because of the little lady's request, to sooth your wounded hearts." She cupped her son's face, "My boy, be happy and love life for me. That's all I want from you." She kissed his damp forehead. Lillian then moved on to her living husband, "I ask the same for you too, my love."_

_Lance's lips were wobbling, "But I don't want you to go…" He couldn't grab her, as his hands simply swept through her. He was too dry of water to cry, but his face pitched of sorrow. The boy choked out sounds of sobbing. His misery was too familiar with Ciel, as he remembered the feeling of loss himself. Ciel remained stoic to all, even when he was wrenching inside._

"_I'm so sorry, my love, but I must. But I want you to remember-I will always love you and I will always watch over you." She cooed over the small boy, her husband smiled at him. The ghost looked directly in the man's eyes, "I have always loved you both and I always will." She kissed him._

_It was too brief for him but it was enough._

"_I should go." Lillian's shoulders sagged at that knowledge before straightening up and turned to look at the group that watched all, "And thank you all for everything." She smiled and with that, she was gone. Faded away into nothingness._

_Silence died too quickly, from interruptions of Lance's resumed crying. Lucas frowned but he simply kissed him on his forehead, "We'll be okay. Your mother said so." He encouraged with a sad smile. Lance nodded, "I'm pretty tired, father." _

"_Then sleep, my boy." Mr. Noel sighed. It wasn't long for him to fall asleep._

_Kagome picked up her skirt and curtsied before the man, "I believe that culminated this exorcism." She murmured, "We'll be leaving now…I do however have two things to say to you." Lucas blinked and nodded, waited to listen to what she had to say, "Firstly, the Ouija board itself…it did not appear out of the blue. There is a reason why it came to be in your home."_

_He frowned, remembering the man and the boy, "I did have the guests…"_

_This time it was Shippou who spoke for Kagome. He shook his head, "Again, they didn't come to you without a reason. Beware of the man who you have faith in. Be on your guard; keep a sharp eye out of his behavior."_

"_My steward?" He frowned. _

_They nodded and Kagome offered a piece of advice, "Your steward...I believe he is not what he seems to be-do not trust him. Look into his records one more time. That is all I can tell you."_

_With that done, the pair bowed to him, "That'll be all. Now you just needed to send rest of payment through mail." The little lady briskly declared, before she turned away with a quick movement of her skirt._

_Ciel followed, saying not a word. He was awed. _

"Master?" The voice stole him from the past of his memories and Ciel blinked away from the scrolling scene through a window. He glanced at the curious butler, a thumb twirled over the design of the handle of his cane.

"What?" The young master was slightly annoyed, eying the detestable man.

Sebastian almost glared at his rude attitude toward him but told him, "We're at the circus, young master." He clicked open the door of carriage and was ready to let Ciel off. The boy nodded and stood away from his seat and stepped out. In front of him was a huge gate with a large banner exclaiming "**Noah's Ark Circus**". All around him was mass of chattering, happy-faced people.

Ciel felt disgusted at that expression and found himself wanting to erase them all. He then wondered where that feeling came from before shook it off, "Come on, Sebastian." The inhuman man followed. They entered the largest, boldest tent they saw, after flashing their tickets to a gentleman in a gate vendor.

Ciel nearly sneered at the number of people inside but held it in. Once as they both found a seat, a man with a hair of glaring red and dressed into a very mismatched outfit stepped on a standing altar. His odd shoes clanged loudly against the metal platform to catch attention. His painted dark eyes shone brightly in the light.

The hair color reminded Sebastian and Ciel of two certain men who had that similar color. One who was a fox faced butler, another was a man with a gender crisis identity. Sebastian barely held in the shudder of that memory of almost being molested by the latter. Ciel on the other hand shut his eye at the thought of the butler's employer; the curiosity slithering in his mind was strong.

"It seems like a regular circus…" Sebastian mused out aloud and Ciel nodded.

"Seems and is _are_ two different things. We must look into this more." The boy stated carefully, intended to watch everything to make sure. The butler tipped his head in an agreement.

Back to the man, the ringleader they found, started juggling colorful balls in his (one of his hands was skeletal? Fake?) hands, "Ladddieessss andddd gentlemennnn! Boysss andddd girllsssss! On this fine day we welcome ye all to Noah's Ark Circus!" The colorful leader cheerfully called out, as he kept on juggling, "Ah am Joker and we hope ye'll all take a gande-d'ow!" He mistimed his juggling and the balls fell on Joker's head, earning laughter of the watching audiences.

Ciel found himself rolling his eyes at the man's antics. He then scanned all around the center of the performance and saw all sorts of people.

Joker sheepishly rubbed his head before grinning, "This circus, 'tis packed full of acts to entertain and astound ye!" Joker waved around his hands, to introduce the performers. With his voice exciting the audience he went on show off all of the performers, making a signal to someone nearby.

With a blast of fire, the show finally began.

Firstly, there was a fire-eating man; he was bald with snake-like flame tattoo sliding throughout his body. He was very muscular thus was much larger than all of the other performers combined. The fire-eater was certainly someone to avoid, as his strength could easily crush a strong worker flat. He blew the fire before swallowing to reignite the flame with ease. The eater repeated the progress, the inferno growing bigger each time.

Next were a pair of small children, garb into bubble-shaped wears. There was an elegant-faced, wide-eyed girl, with not a strand of hair out of place from her up-do. With her was a boy with arrogance very obvious on his snobbish face. They both achieved their flying trapeze act in a perfect union, spinning throughout the air and never once fell.

Then there was a grinning blond man with a very youthful face and dots under his shining eyes. He was a knife-thrower, never once missed his target and never once accidentally harmed a smiling woman on a vertical spinning wheel. He wore a glove on one hand, for whatever reason.

"There was nothing interesting or special about this performance." Ciel decided, not seeing any changes or any uniqueness of this certain circus.

His butler input his notices, "I do not see missing children being made perform either."

"Hmm." The next show was a small woman (or girl?) covered in white roses and wore a white dress, and was walking on a death-defying tightrope, without a single struggle, "If their goal wasn't to put the missing children on the display, then perhaps the route of traveling circus overlapping with the missing children was nothing more than a coincidence?" Ciel suggested, as he watched the woman briskly made it to the end of the tightrope successfully.

There then was a calm scaly man with gold platinum-hued hair, blissfully entwining with many hissing reptiles. Never once had he been bitten for being with the angry creatures. Joker claimed he was half human, half snake or what not.

_If that was the case_, Ciel thought, _he'd be wonderful to catch mice that were in his manor._

"And last, but certainly not 'he least! Here's 'he star of our circus! Feast ye starving eyes on our animal tamer!" Joker announced, with much pride, as the tamer cracked her whip with a seductive smile. The woman was rather improper; her form was tightened with black leather, showing all of her curves and most of her flawless white skin. Her dark hair was curled carefully and tightly above her chin and was decorated with a single red flower. Near her was a cage and within it was a confused-looking tiger.

The animal tamer then set it free and set down a chain around the neck. The tiger tugged against it, chuffing uncomfortably, but did nothing else. The tail were tucked in between the legs. She pulled it with next to the ringleader. With a nod from her he hollered out, "Now…Ah would dearly love to have ye, the audience, to participate in this act…"

"There are no children in this either." Ciel shook his head, unaware that his servant had stood up at Joker's request, "It looked as if coming here was a waste of time…Sebastian?" He noticed the man's position and looked up, "What is it? Did you find some-?" The boy was interrupted by the redhead's voice and only then did he realize why his butler had stood up.

"Oh, the gentleman in black tailcoat! Ah see ye most eager!" Joker pointed at Sebastian, with a light laugh, "Good sir, hie ye at the stage then!" He gestured to a direction, "Right 'his way, my good man!"

_This is an opportunity to get up close!_ Ciel thought, as he gave a silent permission for Sebastian to go on ahead. As the audience applauded him for his bravery, Sebastian then briskly climbed down the steps, leaving the boy master to his thought, _This is a mysterious case of children disappearing right after another and this place is our hope to find the answers. Though you managed to get up close with people watching, just exactly how are you going to get answers by doing this, Sebastian?_

Sebastian dropped down from a low colorful protective barrier that was elected between the audience and the performers. He approached Joker and the beast tamer. Ciel watched him eagerly, waiting for any answer he may get.

"May ye lie down there, good sir?" Joker pointed to the small, decorated furniture and blinked as the man walked past him, "Eh?"

Sebastian dropped down to his knees and Ciel felt the foreboding crawling over him, _He is just doing this to get close to that bloody cat! What the hell, you bastard?!_ He roared at Sebastian in his mind.

Everyone was stunned at the unexpected act of the butler as he cooed over the large cat.

Sebastian smirked as he placed his hands on either side of the tiger. Said creature snarled its distaste. He instead ignored the warning. The butler continued to fawn over the creature—taking its paws into his hands and rubbing his fingers over the fur gently.

With a minute twitch, the beast suddenly roared angrily and swiped at him with one of his paws. The action took him by surprise. He was briefly knocked to the ground. Taking advantage of the new position, the tiger locked its massive jaws around his neck. Over sized fangs pierced the soft skin ever so slightly. Blood began to stain the black coat and dripped on the floor in small splotches. _Well, this was quite the predicament._ The man thought, amused.

Everyone started shrieking in horror. The tamer reacted, a whip soaring through the air, "Betty, let go of him!"

Sebastian caught the whip, having gotten up in time, and was about to say something.

Emerald eyes landed in a short distance, momentarily. As if recognizing whatever that was there, it released the male in favor of releasing a growl. Blood fell from its fangs onto the concrete ground. Claws extended as the creature lunged in the air. It bounded over the barrier, and hastily climbed the stair, causing people nearby to scatter away in fear.

A fierce roar filled the spectators' ears and they saw a young girl staring at the closing tiger with an odd expression. They gasped in shock as the tiger threw itself at the girl. Many closed their eyes in fear of what may come next.

The tamer screamed in fright and she then started to run, with Joker behind her, "Betty!" _I am **going to kill you, you fucking cat**!_

However there were no screams of pain or terror. Instead there were pleased purrs reverberated in the little tent. The tiger nuzzled the girl affectionately and licked her face. It then whined out loud, the tail was tucked in again.

"Oh, this is where you had been, Kirara." The girl muttered out as she gingerly pushed the beast away from her head. She patted away the invisible dust from her skirt, as she stood up from the ground. The small lady was completely unaware of anything that occurred around her.

It was not a good day for the tamer, as she whipped out the thin line of danger at the tiger. The enraged woman didn't hear nor saw the show of affection by the tiger. The tamer only to have the whip caught, _again_. "Um, miss, I'm afraid this is milady's cat." The familiar butler, as he seemingly materialized from thin air, stated. He dropped the whip away from him.

The tiger cowered behind the girl, still confused at how she managed to get herself into this situation.

_Mr. Reynard? Lady Higurashi? Why are they here?_ Ciel wondered, as he found himself alone as an audience. All of other people had fled, in fear of being attacked and he was the only one who stayed behind. Ciel knew the performers would be too distracted to notice his presence and crept on closer to listen in.

"What the hell are you talking about?" The tamer woman hissed out.

Mr. Reynard sighed, "Look closer- does she looked like your Betty?" He gestured to the rumbling beast, which was snuggling her giant head against the girl happily and was whining out apologizes. The girl was scratching behind the beast's curved ears, again not paying much attention to her surroundings.

The woman, looking quite insulted, glanced closer before blinked, "That is _not_ my cat. But how the hell-?"

The butler shrugged, "I assumed that you must be in quite a hurry and thought her yours. Your Betty escaped and I only brought her back in just recently." He then helped the lady up.

The tamer winced by the raised eyebrow of the leader, "She did…and I thought I caught her…" She remembered the offish behavior and palmed her face.

Joker coughed, "_Ah_ will talk to ye later." He cast an eye on her and she winced again, "But right now, ah will need to take this gentleman to a doctor." The red haired performer then insisted that Sebastian to go with him and only because of his insistence did the he give in (with a nod of permission from Ciel farther away).

Ciel stayed behind briefly, to listen in the remaining group. So far no one noticed his presence, it appeared.

"How the hell did she stay so calm?" The woman squawked, "No tiger will resist attacking any little girl! And she bit a man! And exactly _why_ did you have one?!"

Shippou coughed, "Kirara was very well loved and cared for by milady, which was why she remained so well-behaved. That gentleman was too bold and Kirara doesn't take that too lightly." He coughed again, sheepishly, "She escaped from home and somehow followed the carriage all the way to here. We didn't know until our driver confirmed what he witnessed."

The tamer eyed him. A stink eye.

Mr. Reynard glanced at the tiger and scanned around the now-empty circus, "Our sincerest apologizes for all of the inconvenience we caused." He bowed and turned away with the lady and the tiger.

Ciel blinked, _He doesn't sound very sorry._ He deadpanned in his mind before he glanced at the familiar pair curiously,_ They seemed like they know Lady Higurashi and Mr. Reynard…Interesting._ He crept away from the tent, planning on catching them and asking questions he needed to have answered. _And that woman is _not_ a lady._ The boy master remarked to himself as he heard the tamer being very colorful.

He flapped away the entrance outside, ignoring the sound it produced. Ciel knew Sebastian would answer his discovery to him at some point so Ciel might as well do his own part. Nonetheless, he wasn't happy with Sebastian. That devil bastard would do anything for those forsaken cats!

Ciel sneezed loudly as he wandered around the area. And he sneezed again. Ah, he must be pretty close..."Bless you." the lady's butler mused out loud, as they emerged from a clear path between clustering tents, "We didn't think we'd see you here, young master."

The young earl glanced at the pair, unsurprised by their appearance, and weakly asked, "Please keep the cat away from me. I'm allergic to them."

Shippou shooed away the tiger to behind Kagome, "Better?"

Ciel sniffled, "A little bit." The head of the Phantomhive manor straightened up, "Why are you two here? Enjoyment?"

The butler nearly scoffed at that though, "Goodness, no! Milady was hired to perform exorcism here, at the Noah's Ark Circus."

He blinked at that, "But how so? It's a moving troupe." Ciel across his arms, _Spirits of missing children maybe…?_ Still he knew better than to jumping to conclusions.

"Spirits can travel, if they have grown attracted to some form of material," Kagome surprised him by actually talking on her own, "or a person." She added, before the girl quieted once more.

_It looks as if Lady Higurashi only speaks if she feels a need to. _"So am I wrong to believe that you're investigating a case of missing children?" Ciel hummed, eying the little lady.

"They didn't say. We were just looking into the disturbances they claimed they had." Mr. Reynard shook his head, "As of now, we were just gathering in the puzzle pieces so to say." He tipped his head to his little heiress, "Not that she will tell you anymore than that." The man grew a grin slowly.

"You refuse to offer your assistance?" Ciel grumbled, his nails sinking in his arms out of frustration, "May I ask why?"

Shippou hummed quietly before chuckling, "You may not know it but Lady Higurashi foresaw a thread of fate from you to here. The answers you are seeking will only lead you to more questions and we are not obligated to answer. Should we answer, danger will occur sooner than later." He smiled gently, "And I _refuse to let her do so_." There was a glint of threat through his friendly eyes.

Ciel nearly stepped back in fear. _Was he protecting her from whatever that has to do with me?_ "Are you saying that something's here that is related to my…past?"

"We are not obligated to answer." The lanky gentleman repeated, "Now…We should be going now, to do some more investigating of our own. But we'll be seeing you very _soon_~" He bowed to the young master and left, taking the lady and her pet with him.

_Why do I never get a direct answer these days…?_ Ciel attempted to shake away the cold of fear that crept up on him, no thanks to the gentleman's threat. _Soon…? _He groaned at that thought, _is he talking about us making another visitation to this damned place?_

_Never mind that… Danger that will occur…? Is he saying that I should be ready for whatever that is to come?_ Ciel frowned, _Why am I taking them so seriously? They're just exorcists, not some damn witches._ He paused then sighed, _What am I saying? I just saw them getting rid of a _demon_ of all things. If they can do that then they might as well be able to predict the future too!_

"…Sebastian? What is taking you?"

The dark eyed man appeared from shadows, "My apologies." He bowed.

Ciel grunted, "Tell me everything that you found."

"As you wish." Sebastian then launched into listing what he knew and found from attending the doctor's tent, as he led the young boy back to their carriage to return their home, "This Joker…He's not the troupe leader at all, just someone a little more than a ringleader."

"So there is a chance that this leader may be elsewhere and be responsible for the disappearances of the children?" The Phantomhive's earl mused.

"'tis so. I also noticed that most of the main performers had a prosthesis limb and all claimed they banded together for the circus to improve from their disability. The doctor was the one responsible that fitted them the said artificial limbs-all made of ceramic it seemed." He paused briefly before shaking his head, "Actually, in his words,"

"_I say ceramic but I used _special materials_ to make it light and durable."_

Ciel eyed him, after Sebastian had told him the rest of the events that transpired, "And I also noticed there was a hallmark…"

"Hallmark?" He wondered, as the man let him in the carriage. Ciel then signaled the driver to pull them home, "What sort?"

The devilish servant stated, "I didn't have a chance to notice it closer." He sighed. The master nearly rolled his eyes. Sebastian remembered, "Ah, I remembered something else."

"…?" _Please tell me it was nothing more than cold air._

"I entered the troupe as a performer and I also asked for you to try out as well." The man stated out coolly and he received a hit of the cane on his head. Interestingly enough, there was a sound as if it only hit hollow metal instead.

"Why did that had to come out that way?" Ciel blanched, an eyebrow twitched uncontrollably. "I never order you do so!" He removed the cane from his butler, unhappily.

Sebastian's lips tipped down somewhat, "I don't see any harm in it."

He ignored his statement, "How did it turn into me joining the damned circus? You just need to infiltrate that place." The boy sneered, "I wouldn't want to live in a tent." Ciel's eye watched out of the window, seeing the life outside to roll by.

"No one is making you to do anything-you would simply be asked to join," Sebastian suppressed a chuckle, "And is it not your wish of me to act of free will, instead of your command?"

Ciel growled under his breath, "Fine, point taken." He did place his trust in his summon. If Sebastian felt his choices were much more appropriate than his then the boy master had to put his faith in him. Ciel didn't have much choice, especially if he needed to have a best absolute outcome.

"Fine, I'll join the circus. But I do not have any ability to do tricks that would be essential to being a performer." Ciel pointed out, frowning, "I cannot do anything like the sort."

Ciel didn't want to see him smile so he hurried to glance out of the window again just as Sebastian smirked deviously, "Indeed. Well, please do your best at the tryout tomorrow and…I'll be cheering you from the bottom of my heart."

_You are lying, Sebastian._ Ciel knew,_ even when you promised you'd never lie to me…_ He said nothing of it and waited to get back home. Home…

_Is it wrong to feel that this is nothing more than an opening act of to what to come?_

* * *

><p>AN:…*weak chuckle* Life? Sorry for the delay. D: I wasn't very motivated to write much lately either. But hey, I updated! And made it a wee bit longer than the last chapter too!

I hate to have to borrow a few things from the manga, but I felt it to be essential for this story-that arc had to do with Ciel's past so I wanted to use it to push a rock down a hill so to say. Please be noted that that _Noah's Ark_ arc will be and should be the only arc I will feel a need to borrow. If I ever introduce/use another arc from Kuroshitsuji manga, most likely they will be implied. Of course I cannot guarantee anything.

Next chapter…should have little more actions (like all of the fun ghost stuffs! Ya'll liked that, right?) but we'll see. I cannot promise any sooner chapter though, but I'd appreciate some help/beta'ing, **criticism, encouragements, or feedbacks** if you can offer them! :)

Okay, enough rambling from me! And thank you for reading this far and I hope you will all stick with me for the ride (however slow it was)!


	11. Frowning Clowns

**Chapter Eleven**:  
><em>Frowning Clowns<em>

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><p><strong>Fanart!<strong>_  
><em> fav . me  d5gg8ef_  
><em>(Close the space please!)  
>done by a fabulous <strong>maple86<strong>!  
>Give her love for me!<br>So much love.

I also started an ask/artblog for The Loveless!  
><em> askthebutlershippou . tumblr . c om<em>**_  
><em>**(Close the space please!)  
>Feel free to ask Shippou anything!<p>

**Warning**!  
>Massive spoilers below<br>if you have not read the Black Butler manga vol. 6 and above!  
>Also, VERY long! 25 pages!<p>

**Beta Reader**:  
>inuluvskags1<p>

Happy Valentine's Day!

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><p>"<em>What fun, what fun, this circus is great!<em>_  
><em>You can see it in our rotting faces, melting eyes, and festering skin!"<em>  
><em>-Vocaloid, Kurai Mori no Saakas/Circus in the Dark Woods

_Of the damned and devious, this place is the damnest of all._ Shippou mused, as his lady routinely performed blessings around the traveling carnival. Lady Kagome Higurashi was merely trying to ward away any spirits that may cause harm. She may not seem like much, but it was a part of her job to see to protecting the innocent. Those who are not innocent on the other hand, there isn't much the young exorcist could do if the lingering spirits are angry enough.

Despite her attempts, they both can see the stubborn lights of the dead lurking around the corners of the nearby tents. Oddly enough, the spirits never once showed themselves to either Kagome or Shippou, preferring pulling some 'harmless' tricks on them instead. There was an incident that rubbed the butler the wrong way, just mere moments ago.

_They were visiting the ringleader's main tent, to check out the witnesses' report of a glaring orb. Said orb oftentimes hurled rocks at Joker, the animal tamer (the tamer called herself Beast), and several others and pulled childish pranks on several random passerby. A young knife thrower (Dagger) had been injured from one such incident. This prompted Joker to ask for the exorcist and her butler's help. Joker feared that there would be more injuries and possibly even death. He felt that now that the orb, or 'some silly ghostie' as more skeptic performers called them, were excited by causing harm that it may do more with force. _

_Kagome, with permission, entered the tent to scan around but sensed only the shadows that wander. None were even strong enough to even show fully to her sight, let alone even picking up some stones. Shippou followed after and was startled by a giggle, "Did you hear that, Miss?"_

_Kagome nodded, "That I do. But I don't see them…" If for any reason she cannot see a thing of supernatural, then the spirit may be smart enough to resist showing to her._

_Something flashed._

_She cried out, a thin line of red dribbling out of a side of her face. Shippou, on defensive, hissed, eying the stone that struck within a wooden bedpost, "Milady, are you alright?" A hot rage bubbled within but for her sake, he withheld it. _

"_I'm fine. Just surprised me is all." Kagome winced when Shippou dibbed away the dewing blood with a handkerchief he pulled out from a pocket, "I didn't expect any sudden attacks." She stated, nearly protested when the man kept on the white cloth. The exorcist knew better, she can see the silent anger behind his eyes. She had no choice but to let him to care for her, however minor, wound. _

_Satisfied with the stopped bleeding, the butler frowned, "If the spirit attacks without any provocation then this may be very dangerous, Lady Kagome…" He stuffed the stained fabric into a pocket, neatly. _

_Kagome shook her head, "I'll be fine, Shippou." With a sigh held back from fleeing her lips, she glanced at the stone within the wood, "We got something at very least."_

The lady was correct- their first finding was o8f a spirit strong in wrath to hide itself. And attack without a single provocation too. Joker indeed had something to worry over and the butler could not fault him for that.

Even now though, as Shippou stared the healing red line that was marring his lady exorcist's fine cheek, that doesn't soothe his wish to take Kagome away to keep her from harm. _Whoever that brought the pain to my dear lady…I shall destroy them utterly. _He vowed silently.

He paused, stilling his feet, as the girl stopped before the entrance of the circus, the sky seemed sleepy with its pale color and the waking sun, "I believed I've blessed the entire area," Kagome wasn't pleased, "yet I can still hear them."

The butler crossed his arms in thought, "Perhaps the spirit, _spirits_, may not be cruel in nature then?"

He saw her giving a small nod, her lips deepened in a frown, "If that was a case then I'm afraid that there is nothing more I can do but to communicate." The dark-haired child looked up to him, "How can I do so if the spirit has no desire to show itself or speak with me?"

This is quite a dilemma, he agreed.

Laughter reached his ears and he turned his head to see where the noises were from while his lady was brooding. Unnoticed, he had a cruel, entertained smile on his face, "Well, it seemed like the earl dog and the devil tike from yesterday were already pertaining to the circus. Perhaps they can help?" The girl blinked and Shippou snickered as he tipped his head to a practicing performance some distance away. There was a familiar boy struggling to succeed under eyes of expert entertainers.

Kagome's face turned curious and she glanced at him again in confusion.

"Should we greet them?" Shippou still snickered. Seeing this scene considerably lightened his spirit after his lady's injury.

"Hey, why is he there?" Lilith spoke aloud, saying the very same question the lady was thinking.

Shippou, still grinning, suggested, "Let's ask."

Kagome gave a small frown but allowed herself to be escorted to the area.

The redhead performer crackled in amusement, unaware of the duo behind him. He was watching the newest addition struggling to hit the target with a dagger. The boy was doing very poorly, having his daggers hitting the dirt rather than on a painted bulls-eye target, "Hehehe, well, maybe ye would appreciate some demonstration, ja?" His bone hand rattled, as Joker boldly stated. "One more dagger in th' dirt mean ye fail, ye know!"

The one-eyed boy almost glared but nodded, "Fine, I supposed I can use some _assistance_." There was a tiniest hint of stress on his statement, his eye landing on the chuckling gentleman in black. He stepped back and the blond man was about to draw out a knife. A hand, as of which Ciel recognized to be belonging to the butler of the lady exorcist, stopped the blond.

Inwardly Ciel panicked, not wanting them to blow his cover. He came to the circus trope, as Finny, a poor servant in need to move on from his last employer. He couldn't come as who he truly was, an rich earl-it'd be suspicious right off the bat if he did. Joker easily accepted his identity, though he did have to have to pass a few tests to show his abilities to become an entertainer/employee of Noah's Ark. Throwing the knife into the bulls-eye was his first test and so far he wasn't having a good start.

"Eh?" The tall blond, Dagger, blinked. Briefly and absently, he hid behind a hand behind his back, where he wore a red-stained white bandage.

Shippou smiled, "Do you mind if milady shows instead? She is rather impeccable with aim, I'll have you know!" He never once made an eye contact with Ciel.

The boy's panic vanished instantly and confusion occurred. His eye moved to the girl and blinked.

Kagome seemed to have paled, her skin almost very white.

"Ah, mister Fox, she is bitsy small! How can she show?" Joker, not even surprised by their presences like everyone else had, frowned. His face then lit up in thought, "But okay! She can have a throw!"

Dagger was sputtering in protest but resigned under a look from the ringleader, and he handed over a knife, handle first, to the uncertain girl. The shapely woman glared at both the knife thrower and the ringleader for even allowing this in the first place.

"Don't get mad at me, sissy!" Dagger wailed, launching himself on the tamer, only to have her sidestep him and land onto the ground face first instead. No one paid any attention to him but instead to the paling exorcist.

"Ja! Come on 'ow! Show Finny how ye throw!" Joker cheerily encouraged, clapping his mismatched hands. With his expression he wore on his face, he could easily be mistaken to be the green-eyed butler's younger sibling.

"You can do it, Lady Kagome." Shippou grinned, a knowing look gleaned from his eyes.

Ciel kept his mouth shut, but had an eerie feeling of something akin to a murdering intention radiating from the tiny slip of a girl child. He nonetheless watched.

A sudden flung of an arm, the wrist was loose and relaxed without any direct concentration. It felt like it was in slow motion, where the earl in disguise saw every inch of that movement.

_Thunk!_

Kagome had her eyes down.

There was a still, pregnant silence.

It held for two long minutes.

Shippou laughed, clapping, shattering the silence, "What did I tell you? Milady's impeccable with aim!" He was correct. There, smacked right in the middle, was the knife perfectly in the bulls-eye.

Joker blinked, very shocked, "Uh…wow, um…" He was speechless, rubbing his head.

Dagger was already complaining, "Must be a beginner's luck!" Already he handed another knife to Kagome, "Try again, will ya?!" He was visibly annoyed, having someone upping him.

Kagome merely stared, before turned to Shippou and blinked. She then twisted to the boyish man again, accepting the weapon. For a brief second, the boy earl saw her glancing at him through her ink-black bang, before her eyes went elsewhere, unfocused. Without even facing the target a few feet away, she flung it again. Dagger was about to grin at this lack of care…

_Thunk!_

His lips dropped into a frown, his head turning to the target.

There was the second knife, making a very comfortable close neighbor to the first in the bulls-eye. Kagome patted down her skirt, mindful of her Cats in her coat pockets, before taking her place next to her butler. The man was glowing with pride of his mistress' accomplishment.

"Well, now!" Joker was impressed, letting out a whistle, "Finny, think you can do it?" He glanced at the shell-shocked boy, "Just gotta get on the target-doesn't have to be perfect, ya k'ow!"

Ciel blinked out of his stupor and nodded, "I'll try again." _I think…Kagome was showing me how. _He caught her sneaking small glances at him, as if challenging him, _Relax your wrist and don't think about the target…_He accepted a dagger that was once laid abandoned off the ground somewhere and prepared himself, taking his position. _Just don't think about it._ He flung without a second thought.

_Thunk!_

_There was that sound!_ He glanced at the target, eager to see how he had done.

It wasn't a very good hit, but it was in the target nonetheless, at the edge of outer red ring. _I…got it in!_ Then Ciel instantly got annoyed with himself, _I needed to be in the bulls-eye!_

"Ah, ah guess the bitsy lady was a good teacher after all!" Joker clapped, "Think you can try again?"

"Yes." He said it without a thought. Dagger's dotted face had a flash of annoyance as he handed the boy yet another knife.

Ciel took his position again and flung.

There, it was much closer to the bulls-eye. Only in the inner ring of red this time.

"Third time is the charm!" Joker cheered, absently forcing his entertainers to clap in encouragement.

Another knife, third time. The earl took in a deep breath and took a brief moment to ready himself.

_Thunk!_

And he glowed in arrogant accomplishment. It wasn't perfect, but it's much closer now, right on the edge of the red bulls-eye. _It'll have to do._

"Hahah! Ye passed this test then!" The ringleader grinned, "There's a couple 'ore tests next, but ye c'n take a break now. Ye deserve it!" Joker smiled, "Dagger will lead ya two to a tent to have a drink and a snack there."

Dagger grumbled, but he couldn't refuse the erratic man, "Come on ya two." He led them away.

_Hmp! I don't need Sebastian after all!_ Ciel glanced at Sebastian and swore he saw a flash of disappointment through his angular face. _Asshole._

He pushed aside the childish thinking and wondered, _Did they find anything? _Ciel turned back and saw Joker and Beast speaking with the duo. Both entertainers had a look of concern on their faces. Shippou was no longer jolly, as he went to explain whatever the situation there was.

_Well, I'll find some time to ask them later-with luck, they'll have clues to the missing children._ The earl hummed to himself, '_that is if I can _convince_ them to tell me.'_

_The butler chuckled almost ruefully, "You may not know it but Lady Higurashi foresaw a thread of fate from you to here. The answers you are seeking will only lead you to more questions and we are not obligated to answer. Should we answer, danger will occur sooner than later." He smiled gently, "And I refuse to let her to do so." There was a glint of threat through his friendly eyes._

Ciel sighed, _With that look he had, I doubt I could get anything out of them. _Dagger was streaming of being upped by a little girl and he could hear the blond complaining under his breath, _Although…I could have _sworn_ Lady Higurashi looked as if she really wanted to tell me something, but_, In his mind's eye, Mr. Reynard reminded him like an overprotective guard dog now,_ that man wouldn't let her._

The memory flashed brightly in his head.

_Kagome stared at him, frustration swimming through her eyes while her expression and body language gave away nothing. Ciel realized he was getting better at reading the quiet girl, but only so slightly. Observation was his favored suit, after all. Mr. Reynard on the other hand never gave her an chance to even give the slightest of a telling twitch, as he threatened the Queen's Watchdog._

It eroded away back to the present.

Sebastian had made a comment regarding the duo, but the earl ignored him in favor of his own thought, _Just how is his bite to his bark?_ He gave a smallest of frown, _Probably harder than the bark, but that man also seemed as if he was in a tight leash now that I think of it._

The knife thrower stopped before a comfortable looking tent and said something that Ciel missed as he was too focused on his thought.

_If I plan this carefully, I just _might_ be able to avoid that bite after all._ He plotted as he was led into the tent.

**THELOVELESS**

This was humiliating. _And painful._ Ciel added, when he tried to not allow the height to get to him. His mind was already dizzy from trying to balance himself, on a thin lifeline of a rope tautly held high in the air. A tightrope.

He had been led into a striped tent, and were insisted to try and walking on the rope above. Ciel didn't have much say in it, when he was dragged up the ladder.

Walking on a tightrope was his next test, and it was a very painful one.

Oh, not only his feet, where the wire were digging into through the sole of the flexible shoes he was provided, but Sebastian found a way to finally entertain himself.

"Ack-" He gasped-losing his grace, when a stone rudely stabbed itself into a shoulder to right his position. Ciel bit into his tongue to keep in the cry, focusing on making it to the goal. His feet wobbled, arms flaying, and another stone flicked deeply into his skin to set back his feet. He winced once more. _Damn you to hell, Sebastian! Damn you! You will pay for this!_ Ciel vowed with venom.

Whenever Ciel was losing his balance, the bastard butler flicked a small stone to his back (both upper and lower) to regain the balance on the rope. This repeated too many times, until Ciel finished the entire way at last.

It felt too long, almost like an eternity for him to reach his goal. _And endless pain._ The earl in disguise added once more, as he rubbed his back. The boy ignored the cheer from the watchers (including Sebastian the Bastard) below, as he perched on an end deck. They all thought he was catching his breath, which was true. Ciel was also rubbing his wounds, pretending it was his back being too tense from balancing on the rope.

Joker and Dagger gave him a brief moment to gather himself, as they discussed quietly together with a girl in white (she was the one that helped Ciel up to the tightrope in the first place and gave him a demonstration beforehand). The big grins were like brilliant light bulbs on their faces. The boy though could tell it was in attempts to forget whatever they discussed with the lady exorcist's butler.

Whatever it was, it wasn't good. Their faces were telling of their grievance. However he need to wait, without being suspicious. Ciel climbed down the ladder, "I've recovered. It was difficult." He announced, informing the pair he was now on the ground. The tight walker was absent.

Joker laughed and clapped his mismatched hands, "Ah was 'mazed! Ah' didn't think ye can walk 'he tightrope!" The ringleader grinned, with that similar impish the red-haired butler shared, "Ye got a hard time with it, didn't ye?! Quite a struggle."

"Jack of all trades, Master of None!" Dagger patted Ciel's head, glancing in Joker's direction, and laughed, "So this little cutie-pie passed, eh, my ol' bud?!" The boy twitched at the hand on his head, but didn't say a word. It appeared that Dagger was already over the bulls-eye fiasco. Perhaps he was impressed the whole time but simply didn't liked to be upstaged?

Ciel wouldn't be surprised, he never liked having Sebastian upping him at anything. Never did, even if it was for his own benefit.

Most importantly though, had he finally become an official member of the circus?

Joker crushed the hope, "Nope! There's one more thing ye gotta do! Ye're missing something veee-ry important!" He pointed a bone finger to the earl and laughed, "Smile!"

Ciel began to dread what was coming and it was only grew when his butler was stifling his laughter, "I...beg your pardon?"

As if there was a joke he didn't hear, Joker's laughter amplified, "Ye need to smile, Finny-boy!"

Sebastian's voice grew distanced, as if he was moving away from a ticking time bomb, yet Ciel could still clearly see the trembling of the butler's broad shoulders. Hot fire devoured his heart, face reddened with anger.

And he smiled so real and beautifully that it stunned Joker and Dagger.

Ciel was, right there at that spot he was standing on, accepted as an official member at last.

It was only an hour later when he regretted even smiling.

He and his butler were gifted appropriate costumes for the circus (not that Sebastian needed much changes-he still wore a black suit) and had makeup on their faces, and were called to introduce themselves to the rest of the Noah's Ark family.

Joker gave them a stage name of their own.

"This," the redhead rudely pointed to the well-dressed entertainer, "is Black!" Beast huffed at the newest rookie. Dagger gave a feeble smile.

_How appropriate_, Ciel idly thought at the given name. It was his turn.

"And 'his little feller," Joker patted his small shoulder, and the same tight walker seemed awed at him, her blue eyes wide and curious, "is Smile!"

_What?!_

Ciel tightened his hands, to keep his anger under control, _Couldn't you stupid lots name me something else? Like Blue?! _He raged internally, feeling very humiliated. The boy was positive that the devil man was finding this whole thing hilarious. How simply marvelous.

Joker laughed, "Treat them nicely, would you all?" Sebastian greeted them with a smile, while Ciel gave a hesitated bow.

"C'mon, Smile. Smile!"

_How simply marvelous! _

**THELOVELESS**

The attention on him was gone and he sighed in relief. Joker beckoned him and Sebastian to follow, "So! Ah'll be giving ye a tour~ye don't want to get lost in this maze, heh!" The ringleader chirped. He was right though, the coordination of the tents were confusing yet dirt pathways were directed. It was simply the matter of knowing the purpose behind those tents.

Some tents were striped, some small, some big, and some tents were just plain looking.

Joker pointed to smaller, plainer tents, "These were for 'second string members' to sleep in, the stagehands, the newcomers, and whatnot. Smile and Black will be sleeping in those for a time being." He pushed open a flap to show them what was inside; a bunk bed, a large crate as a table, and several chests to store things in. It wasn't too bad looking, but Ciel wouldn't want to live in it. At least it was relatively clean, if not small.

Sebastian doesn't look impressed by it.

"Usually, two to three persons for a tent." Joker absently added, releasing the flap cloth. He guided them across the pathway, gesturing to a busy, large tent, "And 'here's the dining tent-it stores our foods too." A random patron greeted Joker, which he eagerly returned. He also added, "Since ye'll are new here, ye gotta cook up meals too, so give it yer best shot!"

The ringleader led them away, but didn't bother going to the far end tent he was pointing to. It was very familiar to Sebastian. "That's a first aid tent!" He didn't bother explaining what the purpose of that place was, as it was obvious.

Joker stopped and turned to Ciel and Sebastian, "There beyond be the private tents-so no peeking!" He chuckled.

Ciel blinked, "Private tents?"

"Ah," Joker felt silly for leaving out the valuable information, "They be for main cast only-if ye'll make it big, ye can have your own tent too." There was a glint in the young eyes that the man didn't see.

"'n one more thing," the ringleader murmured, and pointed to an innocent-looking tent, larger than most, "'hat's Snake's tent-stay away from it. He got bunch'a scary looking, poisonous snakes in 'here, wandering about. Veee-ry shy. Both Snake and his slithery buddies." Joker glanced at the newbies with a warning, "One bite and ye 're a goner. So if ye know better, keep on yer toes."

Ciel didn't make much effort to memorized the areas and marking up the importance of each tent. Overall it was what he was expecting for a circus.

Joker's eyes turned on the youngest of the touring trio, "By the way..." he frowned, "What happened to yer right eye?"

The boy blanched, not expecting the question. He didn't realize he was covering the eye on a reflex as he stuttered for an excuse, "This...? There...was an accident." _Dammit! If I only have a minute more time to prepare for this!_

Joker didn't pressed farther, his green eyes saddened at the thought. He stroked Ciel's star-studded cheek, prompting a wide-eyed confusion, "Oh, but ye're so young...Unfortunate befallen even to the young." Suddenly he smiled radiantly, with clanking of his false hand, "Well, everyone here got 'heir issues, ye'll will get alonggggg just finnneee~!" He fondly patted the disguised earl's head.

On the side Sebastian looked at the man, with no telling expression. Ciel knew he had something in mind and reminded himself to ask what it was.

By every ticking second, Joker was beginning to look even less like Mr. Reynard.

"Say," Sebastian caught the humming ringleader's attention.

"Hm?" Joker looked back.

"Like us, did everyone here join the troupe while the circus was making its rounds?" The butler asked, curious, though with ulterior motives.

He smiled, "Mostly, yes. All of the first string members come from the same town 'hough."

Sebastian answered for him, "Childhood friends?"

"Bingo. Yes, that's correct." With a glance to Snake's tent, Joker then mentioned, "Wellllll, Snake's a rookie still. He's brilliant with snakes-and we were without a snake charmer then, so he became a member quick.

"If ye work hard and become a first-string, ye don't have to help to prep 'he stage, don't have to fight over meals, and you can get your own tent." Joker encouraged with yet another smile -the smiles looked so permanent on his face, "'hat is why...everyone should work hard to be a first string member!"

Sebastian, when Joker didn't pay any attention, suddenly looked suspicious.

When they were on their way to enter a training tent, as Joker called it, Ciel spotted a familiar girl looking lost. No red-headed man in a suit anywhere to be seen either. He paused, unsure if he should approach or not. Joker noticed, but he didn't stop. He just kept walking.

This gave him a clue that Joker knew she was there, but he chose to leave the little girl be.

By then Joker vanished within the training tent, Lady Higurashi had already disappeared among the cluttered tents. Ciel raced to catch up, not noticing the darkening look on his devil butler's face, nor the fact he stopped just before the entrance of the tent.

"Here we are! The training ground!" Joker flourished. The inside was very impressive, much bigger than it looked from the outside. There were many members, all second strings, practicing and training themselves on certain performances.

There were tightropes, nets, swings, weapons, giant balls, and the likes. Ciel was awed.

"Newcomers come and 'rain here in hope of making it big one day..." Joker grinned, "Ye should start with 'he basi- hey, where's Black?" He noticed the absence of the man. Ciel blanched and wondered why Sebastian took off, leaving his master behind.

Ciel hurriedly made a suggestion to avoid any suspicion, "Maybe he needed to use a privy?"

"But ye can just use the outhouse when ye was(*1) changing..." Joker was confused, "Maybe he felt he was being rude to use it then?"

"Ye-yeah, maybe." T_his better worth the time, Sebastian._ He thought, irritated.

Joker shrugged, "Anyway...he'll be back in a few-Ah'll show ye some basic exercise...Ah don't have a whole lotta time though." He smiled, "Better make it quick!"

Ciel internally groaned.

**THELOVELESS**

"..." Kagome's eyes narrowed at a spot in a corner between two tents. Her shoulders weighted down in defeat, _Where do you hide? I do not like this game. _The line of her lips tipped down in an invisible frown. She shook her head and turned from the corner.

Three steps away...

The back of her head suddenly hurt. It almost bounced off the two wood pillars that held up the tents, like a rubber ball. She stopped herself from crying out loud, but a whimper managed to flee from her mouth.

The large gloved hands slithered and tightened around the thick flesh. On reflex Kagome snapped her hands onto the assaulter's hands, squeezing and scratching the wrists, in a feeble attempt to fend the limbs off from her body. She couldn't breathe, feeling very cold. She couldn't see the attacker, but her senses told her who it was.

The sound of her hammering heart brought desire from the man. Kagome gagged, needing air.

"You stupid little girl..." Familiar silken voice hissed in contempt, "if I wasn't so curious, I'd skin you alive."

The chokehold was loosened and the small exorcist took in a sharp inhale for air and gagging. Her dark eyes opened and narrowed into a glare, "You. Mr. Dog." Kagome spat, wheezing.

Stained cinnamon hued eyes burned brightly red, "I dislike dogs."

Defying his want to see her weak, she scoffed, "Yet you are a dog. A servant dog." The little girl kept it brief.

He growled, "Tell me you little brat, what did you tell the boy?"

Kagome almost smirked but didn't allowed herself to do so, "Why do you wish to know? It's just merely gossip between children, nothing that you _adults_ care enough to know, Mr. D-" A warning squeeze, "Sebastian, or whatever you are being called now."

There were loud cries from inside of her coat pockets. It was Damien and Lilith, upon realizing the danger Kagome was in, "Hey, what the hell!" Sebastian was amused how even a little stuffed toy can looked so dangerous. Their sharp little teeth sunk in his skin of the wrist, attacking him to release the girl. The man didn't flinch and smacked them away.

Kagome tried to protest against his action, when they bounced off the side of the taut tent and rolled onto the ground. Dirt staining their bodies. "Damn you!" The black snarled one and lunged at the man on the ground, only to be stepped on. The black Cat struggled to remove his body from under the leather shoe, but couldn't. Lilith sneered but slithered behind the child, uncertain of what action to take. She chose to hiss at him, trying to frighten Sebastian away.

"H-hey, get off D-amie-n! Plea-se!" The girl jeered, now choking. Her plea was ignored.

He laughed, with murderous intention, "Where is your little pet?" Sebastian petted her long hair, admiring it, as if it were to be a collector's item. And by the little pet, he meant the Lady's Butler.

"Away." She didn't say anymore than that. Kagome eyed Damien worriedly, Lilith hid under her skirt, still hissing with teeth out.

"How horribly dangerous...You should be aware that there are predators like me, little dear." He hummed, a long black nail leaving behind a light pink trail on her pale skin. In scorn he lengthened his nails to the point that they tore through the gloves soundlessly. "How stupid of you."

As if to prove his point, he dug in his sole deeply into the screaming cat doll. The little creature didn't feel pain, but he was throwing insults.

Kagome didn't speak.

"I believe that your bones will make a nice addition to my collection. And ah, your soul. It looks tasty." The devil butler purred with joy. His teeth grew sharp and his eyes blazed with cruelness, "Time to visit the hell, my dear!"

Damien roared at him, as much as a little toy can, and batting his tiny paws against the leather.

Lilith's hiss amplified.

There was a sound of metal lurching and tearing through the air. Everything was still.

"You will not, demon." A voice hissed, as something tore through Sebastian's shoulder, shredding through skin and muscles like butter, "You will not have her bones, her hair, not a thing from her! She will not see Hell either. I will not let you."

Sebastian's face became dangerous and stood up from his crouching position, and glared at the person that so rudely interrupted his fun, "Must you ruin my fun, Reaper?" He ignored the weapon that haven't yet left his shoulder, but didn't turn to face his opponent.

Kagome rubbed the soreness on her neck, deeply inhaling air, as her eyes firmly on the black demon who was standing in front of her. The white Cat scrambled on her shoulder, cooing something nonsensical to comfort her. Her face turned slightly red.

The reflection of light rolled off the glasses expertly when it was pushed up the bridge of the nose, "Yes. And even I thought you would have more tact than to assault a child. I am not surprised that I was wrong." His face was flat, but his eyes burned with rage.

After a moment of thinking, Sebastian's lips twitched upward, "Ah, yes, your name happened to be William T. Spears. Your face is quite forgettable."

"Likewise to yours, Mr. Dog." The title was fitting for a bastard devil like him, William decided. Sebastian glared. "Shouldn't you get going? Your little master is sure to be wondering where you went, mutt."

Sebastian growled, but knew he was right. Longer he was away, more likely for his contract to be broken. He ripped away the retractable tool and walked past the reaper. The man released Damien and the tiny thing crawled to the girl. The demonized features faded away, and the cloth of his gloves repaired itself back together as well as his damaged shoulder, leaving no evidence.

William clicked his scythe back together.

Kagome stopped him, clutching the worn Damien to her chest. "You made a mistake." She declared, almost glaring at him.

"Oh?" Sebastian paused, curious.

"You just provoked my butler." The lady exorcist knew he didn't believe a word of what she said.

Sebastian left, without a word with a smile.

William waited until the manservant was out of sight and immediately went to the girl, "Are you alright?" He crouched before her and glimpsed when he saw the redness on her neck, "Your neck..."

Kagome blinked at his clownish suit, ignoring his concern, "You...looked ridiculous." Lilith almost giggled.

Williams blinked at her offhanded comment and looked down on his clothes. She was right. His jacket and slacks were meshed with rainbow of colors and stars and his tie was polka-dotted (red dots on yellow). Only articles of clothes that were relatively normal was his grey vest and his white shirt underneath. "So I do."

She twitched. "It does not look good on you." Kagome absently petted Damien, shooing dirt away from his silky coat.

The reaper looked apologetic, "I am sorry." He shook his head, realizing she was trying to get him off track, "Are you alright? Your neck..."

"I'm fine." It was the same reply he always get, the dull, monotone reply, and Williams knew her enough to expect that. Lilith's ears flattened, telling him that the lady was not fine. Nonetheless the cats didn't say a word.

He didn't press farther and instead asked, "Why didn't you summon Mr. Reynard?" He stared at the bruise growing, and fought his anger down.

Kagome shrugged, not answering his question, "He's on his way now." She glanced behind him, "He's not happy."

"I'm not surprised. You were strangled and would be dead if I haven't interfered." He told the truth and the reaper straightened up and tugged down his tie, "I see no reason to provoke him." Him being the dog of the young earl.

Shippou blazed in, the fire of fury could have burned down the circus if it was real, and glared at Mr. Spears. He then ignored him and looked over his precious little lady. William nearly flinched when he heard a snarl.

The Lady's Butler saw the reddening bruising on her neck. He seethed.

And she broke in trembles, now clearly frightened by her encounter with a devil of the higher caliber. Shippou, on his knees, gathered her into his arms. He was shushing her as his eyes was glowing in fury. He paid William no mind, too focus on caring for the girl.

It didn't take long for Kagome to calm down. She looked away in embarrassment, knowing her brief moment of being arrogant nearly cost her her own life. She didn't leave the man's arms, burrowing her face within his shoulder. Damien was tightened to her chest, he was too precious to her.

He stood up, with the dear bundle in his arms, "She'll be okay," Shippou assured the Reaper, knowing the man will not move until he know whether if the child exorcist will be okay or not. Lilith, now on his shoulder, seemed to have disagreed, but once again didn't say a word.

William pushed up his glasses with a heavy sigh, "Very well. I should get going." He didn't say more and spun on the soles of his shoes and walked away. The butler saw the tenseness in William's shoulders and shook his head.

Shame was rich on the girl's features.

**THELOVELESS**

Sebastian showed, though he had a well-hidden unhappy expression. Joker greeted him, "Well, hello there! Ah hope ye didn't have any more funny business in yer tummy, eh?" He laughed, assuming the black gentleman had left to use restroom.

"Quite." The butler hummed quietly and eyed the struggling boy. "What is he doing?" The young master stood some distance away, and he was attempting to, and failing, juggle balls. The man nearly grinned when balls fell on the boy's head, and frustrated noises fled from his lips.

Joker blinked, and laughed again, "Oh, Smile is trying to juggle. He's not good at that." He watched yet another attempt, "Told him practice makes perfect!" Joker seemed as if he was going to talk more, but he was interrupted.

"Joker! It's almost time!" It was Beast, the animal taming woman. When she got the confirmation from the ringleader, she glared at Sebastian. The woman turned and left the tent.

"Bummer-Ah got to get going. Give yer best shot, Blacky!" Joker took off, with a quick wave. He left Sebastian stranded, alone.

Just when he thought he could relax somewhat, he got hit with a ball. Right on the back of his head. It bounced off and fell to the dirt with a roll, "Where in the hell did you take off to?" Ciel hissed, his fingers curling around a ball, after he stormed to the devil man.

_I see his aim had improved indefinitely. _The butler thought idly. He turned to the boy and bowed, "I am sorry. I sensed something a-foul, and for your safety I went to check to make sure." Sebastian expertly gave a part lie.

Ciel knew and narrowed his eye at him, "You promised to tell the truth, you cretin." He accused and briefly considered to chucking another ball at him. With the audience watching, the master thought better of it.

The gentleman didn't say a word and Ciel's glare deepened. He gave up, tossing the balls aside, "So, they went with poisonous snakes instead of dogs." Arms across as the boy thought more of the current situation, "In order to gain access on the private property..." Ciel looked at his butler, "Being as you are immune to poison, you should check the first string tents for any presence of childr-"

Sebastian shook his head, "They are not here."

Ciel frowned.

The butler continued, "I sensed no children trapped here. There were none even since we first arrived here and none during the night."

With a sigh, the boy thought out loud, "Nonetheless we still have to find proof that the circus has no relation to the disappearance of the children- we cannot leave until we have covered every corner of this place." He stretched, following the example of a bystander farther off warm-ups.

"It is entirely possible that they are in the state where even I cannot sense them." Sebastian nearly grinned in jest.

"Don't say such ill-omened things. It was _her_ wish." Ciel glared in warning, "She wants to see the safe return of the children."

"Yes sir." He didn't even apologize, as his cheeky smirk revealed all. He seemed to have forgotten something, "Oh and I have see-"

There was a voice calling them out, "What are ye all doing? Don't stand around!" How convenient for Dagger to show up on such bad timing, "That's just lazy~!"

Ciel murmured out an apology and Sebastian just smiled.

Dagger shrugged, "Well, ah am all done with my act-ah was up first so ah get to let off early~!"He grinned with victory, absently hiding his wounded hand behind his back, "Now then, how terrible of ye all to slack off!" He huffed, "but ah will let ya off since yer both new here~so how about ah get to help ya train!" The knife thrower grinned, "So what yer acts be?"

_Oh good gracious no._ Inside Ciel mourned. "I'm fine as long as it doesn't involve using my body." A memory of suffering on the rope earlier appeared in his head, he hastily added, "Like tightrope walking."

Dagger just blasted out in laughter, "Yer really were weak on that."

The boy was insulted, but he didn't comment.

"And Blacky? Any request?" Sebastian shook his head, the memory of his encounter with a little brat girl was largely forgotten from his mind.

And it all came rushing back. It started with a sharp intake of breath with his young master, his sole eye glued on a person that just entered the training ground. His eyes were lifted from the young knife thrower and followed the line of sight of where the boy master was staring.

Sebastian frowned.

It was William, hatefully glaring the devil down.

Dagger saw what they saw and grinned, "Oh, heyyy~That's Suit!" Dagger started to clatter on, "He used to be a civil servant. And he's so, so, so serious! Serious like ye wouldn't believe!" Never noticing the dark look on Sebastian's face and confusion on Ciel's, he continued on, "Suit's very good at what he does, even for an newcomer!"

_Newcomer?! _Ciel stared at the Reaper, almost frightened of his out-worldly presence, _there must be something going on in this circus after all!_ It all added up fully-Lady Higurashi was here and so was the Reaper. It was much of a coincidence for them to be here just to visit the circus.

Still...

He didn't remember the deep hatred between his butler and the Reaper the last time they met. Mild resentment, yes, but nothing like this. It felt like a war-zone. That was the best one-worded description Ciel could think of.

"You...bloody devil!" William spat out, gaining everyone's attention, and he knocked his metal tool against a nearby wooden pillar. The very rod he always carried with him. With a press of a button, the business end loomed too close to Sebastian's face, "Are you truly intending to devour her soul?!"

"Huh?" came a collective reply from the audience, including Dagger and Ciel.

_Is his identity going to be revealed? _Ciel panicked.

Dagger murmured aloud, "Devil? Soul?" The audience gave an assortment sounds of confusion.

_Wait...Her? _Ciel wondered, _He means Lady Higurashi? Who is _**_her_**_?_ He can only think the little girl, but not anyone else. William doesn't seem to care or acknowledge of those who lived in the circus. Why, he doesn't seem like that sort who would even bother caring for a woman like Beast. The Reaper was seriously professional-Lady Higurashi was clearly someone in that professional arena (similar jobs as one can say), obviously someone to care about and respect.

_But I could be wrong. If I was right though, why would Sebastian be interested into eating her soul?_ Ciel frowned. He immediately shook his head, remembering there was a scene taking place.

Sebastian nearly smiled, "Why would I be interested into something so brittle?" To everyone else he seemed to be joking.

William's hatred of the man grew to go beyond even the sky, "You devils love to break everything! Stealing souls not for your taking and breaking them!" He ranted on, "Because of you lots, it's quite near impossible for us reapers to properly do our jobs!" William hissed.

"Erm...Devils? Soul? Grim reapers?" Dagger wasn't sure what to take of this.

_Crap!_ Ciel cursed everything. Sebastian was not helping, as he obviously was poking the fire.

Dagger break out in laughter and the people around followed, "Hahah! Suit, you jokester! With you being so serious I couldn't tell if you are joking at all! Good one, Suit!" He smacked the serious reaper's shoulder. William scowled.

Ciel was relieved.

The knife thrower explained, "He 'as always going on and on about weird jokes!" He gestured, with a thumb pointed to the man, "Always on ghosts, reaping, and all those thingamabobs from day one!" Dagger laughed, "What a jokester!"

William nearly sneered, but settled on pushing up his glasses, "I am not one for jokes." _And this is coming from you, the one who were harmed by a spirit?_ He doesn't have to look at the injured hand to know Dagger was denying the notion of the existence of the beyond.

People scattered, laughing at the man. Dagger smiled, "How about ah introduce ya'll? The big one is Black," he pointed to Sebastian, "and the small one is Smile." then to Ciel, who narrowed his eye at him for being called small. "And this is Suit!"

The Reaper snorted, "I will take my leave. I do not want to spend any more time with that beast." He turned and walked off, his shoulders very tense.

"_Take my leave?!_ _Beast? _Hey, ye'll supposed to get along and work together! Heyyyyy!" Dagger protested, taking off after William.

_Did something happened that I am not aware of? Why would Mr. Spears seemed so hostile toward Sebastian now? _Ciel frowned, _Last meeting he wasn't as aggressive. _He glanced up to Sebastian whose face was neutral. Seeing his expression like so gave him a clue, _so something did happened. The question is, should I be bother to care for this? It's between the devils and the reapers._

"He seemed to be here on his accord, snooping." Sebastian stated flatly, his eyes never leaving the back of the reaper, "How unusual."

Ciel sighed, "Yes, I got that. With both the grim reaper and the lady exorcist here, something must be happening within the circus. With both of them being here, it's too much of a coincidence to ignore."

Sebastian gave a tight smile, "I see that you already drew your own conclusion."

"Of course." He replied back, almost annoyed with the comment his butler gave. Sebastian always gave him a sense of being a stupid individual, when Ciel was most certainly not. It was something Ciel simply had to put up with, considering Sebastian was here because of him. At very least Sebastian was his tool, his weapon. Nothing more. And the butler knew it.

So Ciel found comfort in that fact.

"Still, he looked like he was worth investigating." The boy decided he will deal with the lady exorcist on his own. He doubt the girl will take well to being probed by the bastard nor will the Lady's Butler will allow the devil to. Ciel just had that odd feeling it wouldn't be a good idea.

Sebastian nodded, not excited, but it was a well-disguised order. He hurried after the reaper, who was quite near the exit. Ciel was about to follow, but he was already held up, "Heyyyy~Ye gotta train with me! Ye don't want to lose out to Black!" Remembering the performance with Beast in the first aid tent, Dagger dragged the boy with him, "Come on-ah wanna see how much ye have improved with yer knife throwing!"

There was an invisible fire erupting between William and Sebastian. When William was about bolt from the presence of the butler, Sebastian's hand already snapped on a wrist. The devil was damn near breaking the reaper's bones, "Let us step outside, shall we?" Sebastian grinned, though hatred already filtered through.

William growled but agreed.

"Well, will ye look at that!" Dagger laughed, watching them in the distance, "They're friends now!" He prompted Ciel to quietly question his naivety. It was very clear that they were not friends, whatsoever.

The atmosphere was heavy, making the whole thing difficult to say a word. Outside there wasn't anybody around, but them. Only background noises were the audience laughing and applauding at a performance elsewhere. The sky was stained orange and purple, and was dotted with waking stars.

It was a scene almost reminded of a horrible cowboy western movie William had saw once, with an coworker(*2). They were quite having a stand-off, after all. All it needed was a rolling tumbleweed.

"So what brings a busy grim reaper like you to this place?" Sebastian sucked in his pride and asked, giving William the victory. In order to accomplished his master's wish, it was far better to please the reaper's ego to get the man to talk.

William quietly complained of an absent coworker and the reaping division constantly being understaffed, "-must go out in the field to receive souls simply because the receiving division was missing one employee..." He pushed up his glasses again, as Sebastian waited for him to finish complaining to himself, "What a travesty."

"Only fortunate thing about this is..." He kept on muttering, glaring at the dull-faced butler, "-ashi is safe from harm..."

"Ahem," Sebastian coughed, "Are you quite done?"

William glared and nodded mutely.

"What bring you here?" He repeated himself.

The reaper pushed up his glasses, "I am here cleaning up after that scum dispatch member who is currently suspended." He scowled, "I didn't think I'd be made to do so just because _that thing _and I were coworkers...and without extra pay at that." Better to avoid mentioning the girl-that seemed to spark his temper.

Sebastian chuckled, "Since the reaper is taking so much trouble to come here just to investigate...so there _are_ special circumstances after all!" He said it so frankly that it would be hard to change the devil's mind.

"You do know that I cannot give out information pertaining souls, especially to a fiend like you." William muttered, fixing his glasses again, as his metal tool clanged with warnings, "That would be like giving the rabbit to the wolf."

Sebastian laughed, "I am not interested in such second-rated souls!"

The reaper snorted, "You talk big for a starving dog," The butler narrowed his eyes at William for being called a dog, "when you are mad with hunger."

The man grinned, "It's much more delicious when you are hungry, and much delicious when you have that certain kind of soul awaiting for you." He laughed, "I am tired of indiscriminately devouring souls."

William seemed warily of his announcement, of which Sebastian was quick to put the rest to, "You have nothing to worry about, I have a _collar on my neck_. I cannot do without my master's order." He hummed, showing the symbol on his left hand to the gentleman.

The reaper narrowed his eyes at him despite his assurance, "Very well. You do know how we reapers operate, do you not? If you have forgotten, I will explain." The butler glared for being indirectly called stupid, William continued on, "We the reapers are tasked to make judgment when a soul are scheduled to be received, according to the list. We use our death scythe to check a person's memories, their cinematic records, one by one, and judge whether if they deserve to die or not."

His weapon clanked again, threateningly, "And since you fiends always failed to understand our efforts, you went ahead and snack on the souls like a crow on a corpse."

Sebastian laughed at the senior reaper's interpretation of his kind.

"Let me be frank-there will be a great number of souls in this region in upcoming days to be judged and collected." William was quick to warn, "I'd appreciate if you do not interfere."

"Ooooh, haha," The butler laughed, "Great number of souls, hm? Would you like me to assi-?" Few strands of hair fell and his hat spun on the business end of the reaper's weapon, it was a dire warning that the devil does not interfere.

"I refused to work overtime without pay. I will hunt you down, if you chose to interfere!" William sneered, as he snapped back his weapon.

With a snap of his hand, Sebastian got back his hat that was thrown from the metal tool, "I do not wish to work with the likes of you." He smiled darkly.

William glared, "And I will warn you-stay away from Lady Higurashi." He growled, "What you did earlier today, was very dire."

Sebastian smiled at him, "Dire? What can that little brat do to me? Exorcize me from this plane?" He laughed as if that was a horrible joke.

He pushed up his glasses, with a roll of threateningly light reflecting off, "You do not understand." William shook his head, "Are you really that arrogant to fail to see what her butler truly was?"

Sebastian frowned, it was that same warning from the girl child, "That man was just a mere spirit with a physical body. I could devour him whole if I wished to."

He shook his head, "If you really believe that then you are in for a rude awaking." William chuckled, "Although...I wouldn't mind seeing you being given a lesson!"

The fiend was about to reply when he was interrupted, "Hey, the noisy knife thrower is looking for you two." It was Ciel, impatiently waiting for them. His arms were crossed and he was tapping his shoe, "Are you two quite done?" He approached the older men.

With a critical glance, William sighed, "I do not understand you fiends- he's not that high quality." He was about to add more but thought better of it.

Ciel scowled, knowing that the reaper was insulting him, "You, Specs. You need to stop sprouting about the devil nonsense! You're quite lucky that they all thought you were joking." He warned. With a dangerous smile, the boy added, "The fact that you cannot even blend in only made you lower than even most vulgar reapers."

William twitched at the insult.

"Fine. I will be staying out of your way, as long you both stay out of mine." The reaper clanked his weapon against the ground.

Sebastian smiled, "Agreed."

Ciel laughed, "It's settled then. We will not interfere with each other at all."

They glared.

"Right then." The reaper nodded, and to Ciel, "And Smile, I will be counting on you to take _very_ good control of your mutt." he stated.

The master snorted, "As if I will listen to Specs who cannot investigate properly!"

"I am not Specs. I am Suit."

He left.

Ciel gestured Sebastian to follow.

**THELOVELESS**

"...They ran again." Kagome frowned. She was staring at the chaotic muddle. There was a lopsided wagon that produced cotton candy, and the ground was colored blue and pink, from the favored sugar.

Some feet away was a stuttering mess of a person. He was white and frightened and had wounds on his hands. Kagome frowned, again, at him, "They are getting worse." She said to herself.

"So what's now?" Damien was blunt. He curled around her neck, to concealed her large ugly bruise. He pitied the traumatized man.

Kagome shook her head, "I don't know." She looked up to the black sky, "They didn't mean to hurt people, but when fear came in, they can't tell apart between people from their tormentors." She sighed, making Lilith wilt in her arms.

Damien and Lilith looked at each other and gave a frown.

"Shippou left to fetch the doctor." She hummed, "Maybe he'll find something. He got a good nose."

**THELOVELESS**

Joker grinned largely, waving around a paper, "Hello all! It's time for room assignment for the rookiiieesss~!" People gathered around, murmuring along to others. He scanned around the small number of people and spotted the wilted Ciel on a crate.

"Smile, what's wrong? You looked down!" Joker laughed, "Smile, smile!"

Ciel groaned, exhausted from all the trainings he was made to do, _This is harder than I thought...!_

The ringleader laughed, "Well, the verdicts are as followed..." He pointed to Ciel with bony hand, "Smile will be in tent eight!" Joker gestured to a young boy, with brown hair that covered his left eye and quantity of freckles, "He'll be yer roommate!"

"Hello!" The boy waved to Ciel, who frowned at him.

_This will be difficult, I'm sharing a room with a stranger..._

"And Black will be in tent nine!" Ciel suddenly protested upon hearing this.

"Wait, what? Can't Seb-Black and I share the tent together?" The master stammered, baffled on what to do. _Without him I can't wander freely! _

Joker blinked before laughing. Dagger grinned, "Yer gotta be independent, Smile!" They laughed, "How sweet of Smile on Black!"

The ringleader, with a grin, continued on, not noticing Ciel's wilted state, "And Black's roommate will be Suit!" William, as if by magic, appeared, his face without expression.

There was silence, before the sound of mountainous hatred came between William and Sebastian. Ciel and the freckled boy shuddered at the heavy atmosphere, despite Joker and Dagger's laughter.

"Smile needed to make friends! Suit and Black are already friends!" Joker grinned.

_Them? Friends? How naive are they?!_ Ciel was baffled at the idiocy of it all.

The freckled boy rubbed his head, "Um, well, nice to meet you Smile!" He gave a hand and a smile.

_How brilliant. If there is a merciful god, please smite me now. _Ciel thought idly, "Erm, yeah, nice to meet you as well." He accepted his hand.

"Pleased to share a tent with you, Suit." Sebastian clenched his teeth as he bowed to the reaper.

William glared, "Likewise." He pushed up his glasses.

"Well, nighty night, ya'll!" Joker laughed, waving at them to dismiss them as he headed for his own tent.

Ciel watched the interaction between the devil and the reaper and thought, _If we survive through the night, that'll be a miracle!_

**THELOVELESS**

It was a day later and it was much brighter out. It was a nice day, if not chilly.

_I hate playing hide and seek with spirits. _Kagome stared at a spot between Snake's tent (the only one she was told to stay away from due to the danger within) and another, _One of them is in that tent. _

Shippou took off, after being given a command from the girl.

While Kagome understood the danger of being left alone (after what happened the last time), she was forced to make a promise to him she will call for him no matter what. And it was a promise she quite cannot literally break.

Kagome rubbed her hand and grumbled inside of her mind. She wasn't sure of what to do-usually treacherous animals of all kinds left her alone due to Shippou's presence, but she quite wasn't sure with the snakes.

They weren't the kind that listened.

"Do you need something? asks Wordsworth." Kagome nearly 'epped' at the sudden appearance of a voice behind her, her skin changed to the palest shade of pinkness. She turned and saw a scaly man with pale golden hair and green eyes. There were two snakes wrapped around his neck.

The girl scuffled her boots in the dirt, complementing of what to say to a stranger.

"We won't bite, you're too cute, says Emily." The man assured.

"..." _Cute? _Kagome internally shook her head and took in a breath, shaky of strangers, "There is...a spirit in that tent." She chewed her lips, "And it is a dangerous tent." She added. The shade of her skin turned darker.

"Spirits? asks Wordsworth." The man seemed confused, "Oh. You're the Lady Exorcist Joker hired, says Emily." He murmured, "If you need to go in, we will ask our friends to leave you alone, says Wordsworth. You really are cute to hurt, says Emily." The man nodded and went in the tent himself.

Kagome nearly protested his action, realizing the danger of both spirits and the snakes.

Inside was a voice murmuring before a startled cry. The scaly man flew out of the tent, whiter than he used to be, "What was that? says Wordsworth!" He panted.

"Is it a spirit?" The girl spoke before she realized she had allowed words to flee her lips.

The man nodded, shakily, "A small kid-looked like she was cut in pieces...says Emily."

"Oh, no..." Quietly, Lilith frowned from inside of a pocket.

Kagome chewed her lips, the spirit was still inside, "Can I go inside?"

He nodded, "We asked them not to bite _you_, says Wordsworth."

"Thank you." She hurriedly went in, bracing herself of surprises that lurked inside.

Kagome shuddered at the sight of snakes gliding among each other inside of a giant cage, but saw that they did nothing at the sight of her. They were staring and hissing at something else.

The girl looked and nearly choked.

It was the first time she even saw the spirits in this vicinity, having so far only sensing them instead. The spirit was a small child, barely smaller than Rina. Why, it almost even looked like her Rina! Kagome was white at the thought of Rin being one of them.

She barely knew the girl, but it was odd how she became so fond of her in such a short time. _Rina_.

Kagome stared at the ghost, and shuddered at the sight.

It wasn't as gruesome as she usually see with the dead, but when it came to the young children, it was still a hard sight to behold.

The ghost still had her eyes and her tongue, so she was staring at the lady exorcist. Her skin looked very dry and was white, as if she had been drained of her blood, and her dark-auburn hair limped with no life. Her lips was badly chapped.

She looked relatively clean from blood, which was an unusual sight for Kagome. Often the murdered spirits tended to be such a bloody mess. The child spirit also had a simple white garb, the hospital kind. Kagome narrowed her eyes at a series of number on the girl's chest, giving yet another clue.

"..."

The spirit's body was oddly shaped and it took the exorcist a brief second to realize that the child was disemboweled. The clothes were tightened around the form, as if it was wet (and it definitely did look wet), and showed the missing stomach and also the missing ribs.

The child spirit was also missing body parts, from seeing her having no arms. Kagome noticed that her legs were not yet removed-the child must have died when she still had her legs. That was only conclusion she can think of.

"Excuse me, would you like me to help you to pass on to the otherworld?" The Lady Exorcist questioned calmly and quietly, making herself to be not at all threatening.

The spirit stared at her, blankly, "..."

The dreaded realization fell as if it was pouring crusade of rain, _She was broken!_ _Somebody had broken her soul!_ Kagome cursed, recognizing the empty look inside of the spirit's black eyes.

"..." The girl opened her mouth in a silent laughter and she fled backward, the body fading away.

Kagome frowned and chewed her lips, "Brilliant. How brilliant. This is turning out harder than I had hoped."

"Lady Kagome...?" Lilith's ears flattened, confused. Damien, still curled around the neck, brushed his head against the skin underneath her chin, to comfort her.

"You can't communicate with a broken spirit." She mumbled, "They are just like those mute, deaf, blind, and dumb. You can't communicate with them."

The white Cat looked frustrated, "Oooh, what will you do now?"

"What I don't want to do. I have to interfere with the Phantomhive Dog's business." Kagome frowned, "They are now searching for a murderer and they didn't know they were even looking for one."

With a turn of her skirt, she left the tent. The snakes within the cage hissed quietly, almost as if uncertain.

"You, sir." Kagome called out the waiting scaly man, "Thank you." She curtsied before him. Her heart doesn't seem to want to slow down.

The man suddenly looked flustered, "Not a problem, says Emily."

The lady pondered for a moment, before prompting a question, "What is your name, if I may be so kind to ask?"

"They called him Snake, says Wordsworth." Snake blushed.

Kagome curtsied again, "Thank you very much, Mister Snake. I should be going now." She fled before the man can say a word.

Behind some tents Kagome shuddered, _If I have to speak with more strangers...! Breathe!_ Damien patted her, to assure her that she was okay. _Just breathe...In and out, in and out..._

Her heart rate slowed and with a sigh, she thought on what to do next. _Shippou will know, but... _Kagome shook her head, _No, don't be silly. I _need_ him._

She remained at that same spot for a long while, her brain going for miles per minutes.

"Hey, my lady?" Lilith called out, snapping the lady out of her long train of thought, just as the sky was darkening.

Kagome looked down on her coat to see Lilith, confused. The white Cat pointed to something ahead from her spot, "Is that Earl Phantomhive?" Down the dirt path, Ciel raced away from a group and vanished from them beyond. Kagome already saw where he went.

"Is he...wet?" Damien wondered.

The little lady frowned and moved herself from her hidden spot to follow. She stopped momentarily, to grab a fleece blanket from a string above. Kagome didn't ask for permission, since there were no one watching the clothes drying on the string.

She continued on and eventually spotted Ciel shriveling behind a tent, looking very unhappy and miserable. Damien was correct, he was very much soaked.

"...?" Ciel felt the fabric laying on his shoulders from his position on the dirt, "Sebastian!" He hissed, not paying attention.

Kagome flinched from that man's name being mentioned and absently tugged her high collar up under her chin to hide the bruise. She recovered quickly, "I am not him."

He blinked and looked up, "Oh. I'm sorry." Ciel narrowed his eye and turned away his face in shame of being without dignity, "I'll take my leave now."

"It's...alright." She perched next to him, "If you are able to answer my questions...I will answer yours if you can help me."

"...!" Ciel's eye widened and he turned to her.

Kagome looked down, "I know you have questions for me. My butler doesn't want me to get involved with you, but quite frankly, I think that it is already too late for that." She scratched Damien's ears, quiet.

"He won't be happy...Why would it be too late?" Ciel was confused.

Kagome paused for a moment to think for the answer, "Because you already mingled with death."

_Death? ...Oh, reapers. She must have meant them._ "Reapers?"

She nodded.

_I supposed that would have make sense-she is the exorcist after all. The dealer of the spirits and demons alike and the reapers that received the spirits from her. _Ciel sighed, _I didn't think she will approach me at all. I thought I would be the one that did so._ He shivered, _Damn is it cold!_

Kagome saw and added, "I will make it quick. I don't want you to get sick."

_When did she become so talkative? _He nodded, "That would be the best...What do you want to ask of me?"

"What happened to you?" She prompted so suddenly that Ciel was unsure of what she meant. She looked up to the darkening sky, as she waited for her answer.

_She doesn't mean...!_

**THELOVELESS**

Sebastian was on his way to check on his young master. He even had the clean warm sheets for the master with, after the scene between his master and the idiot roommate ended badly. Ciel chose to go farther than he expected, so on his own slow pace, it will take the butler several minutes to arrive. It will leave the boy some time to think on his next plan.

His senses hummed, before they were dulled. He narrowed his eyes, slowing his pace.

...Somehow his demonic senses were tampered. Sebastian realized and stopped with a frown.

The path he took were voided of life. There was nothing to be seen that could interfere with his power. There were no breathing or beating hearts to be heard within _miles._ Wait, Sebastian thought, _that cannot be right. _Just few feet back he passed a laughing group. How was that they disappeared so quickly? Humans were noisy, no matter how quiet they tried to be, nor are they fast.

Any noise he can hear sounded _hollow,_ muted, rather, as if he was inside of a room with thick walls.

Suddenly there were burning sensation, his oppressed senses screamed to run. Sebastian dropped the sheets. He turned out of reflex, narrowly avoiding a ball of flame that lunged after him.

_How did-?!_ The man was forced to leap away from the fire that burst from the dirt. The flame almost seemed as if it had _grown_ from the dirt, almost as if it was a budding flower. The blankets were burnt away, into black ashes.

His stained cinnamon eyes spotted a familiar gentleman, sitting on nothingness, an invisible chair. The eyes glowed brightly green, in contempt, as he watched Sebastian deftly dodging the balls of fire that grew from nowhere. The red-haired gentleman had a fisted hand under his chin, another under an elbow. One of his long legs were over the other, the said leg swung as if with a beat that only the man can hear.

The devil felt a thigh severely burned, yet there was nothing show to be burning. Sebastian realized that the flaming orbs were meant to _go in_. "...!"

The orbs grew numerous, and harder it was to dodge them.

Sebastian hissed out in surprise when his shoulder (the very same one William earlier injured) was burned. He watched the orb to sink in, like a rock in water, and felt nothing at first, before the burning erupted.

It was harder and harder to move, as his thigh and his shoulder were beginning to feel like heavy stones.

The orbs changed colors, red to blue, and the sitting man smiled, "Do you know what they said about assumption?"

Sebastian was slammed against the dirt, by a blue orb. Now, it was physical.

Every orb buzzed with fury and were disorganized, zipping through the air. The orbs left behind a pale trail of color, as they all formed into a blinding blue cloud. It almost reminded the fiend of the horde of angry bees.

Sebastian growled, "What of it?" He flipped off his back, to avoid an oncoming ball of fire. The dark-haired butler found himself knocked down again, when an orb slammed into his stomach, forcing the air out of his body.

The Lady's Butler 'tsked' and snapped his fingers. Instantly, the cloud of orbs vanished, as Sebastian was fatigued from dealing with them.

"To assume is to make an ass out of you and me, good sir." Shippou laughed, folding his hands, still sitting on his invisible chair, "Honestly, I had the impression you were smarter than to assume, to leave me and my lady be." He sighed.

The dark-haired butler sat up, with obvious efforts, "..."

Shippou laughed, "My, you are such an idiot." He stopped laughing, his lips tipped into a very deep frown and his eyes dark with resentment, "Because of your actions, I will forever now hold a grudge against you."

The fire was still ever-spreading throughout his body, burning him from inside out. Sebastian thought with a wince, as he struggled to get up on his feet,

**_What_**_ in the hell _**_are_**_ you?_

* * *

><p>(*1) Not a grammar error. Some people tended to talk like this, fyi. Expect more like this in my story from now on.<p>

(*2) Remember that the Reapers had modern technology? I am also assuming there are movies in their home realm. And yes, it's probably Grell or Ronald that watched that Western movie.

Sorry there is not much exorcism going on. The story took an mind of its' own. At least there are confrontation and drama to make up for it?

A/N: Oh, boy, sorry I took so long. Again, sorry. :c I made it extra long just for you all and right on the Valentine's Day!

Originally, this was meant to be ended at 13 chapters, but well, now I am feeling like this might go beyond 30 chapters. Ugh...Shoot me in the face please. But I am doing my best. This will certainly take me some years to finish I believe. But, I have no regret!

***As always, _please_ give me _constructive criticism_ on how to better this story!***

Thanks for all of your kind reviews (and follows)! I am so sorry that I am unable to get back to you all, especially with anon folks. You all are so sweet and I hope I can keep you all as my readers! Again, thanks so much.

If you want me to contact you, please let me know in the review, or just say hi in PMs if you're shy! I won't bite.

Take care! I will try my best to give you all a quicker update next time!

Until then!

(9.28.13, tweaked.)


	12. Boiling Point

**Chapter Twelve**:  
><em>Boiling Point<em>

* * *

><p><strong>Warnings<strong>!  
>Violence and Massive spoilers below<br>if you have not read the Black Butler manga vol. 6 and above!  
>Also, it's yet another long chapter! 25 pages!<p>

**Beta Reader**:  
>inuluvskags1<p>

**Quick Notes**:  
>I am not all that great with writing actions, so you have my apologizes in advantage if you are confused at some points. Also, the 28th was my birthday. Yay, I am one year older! Here, take my present! <strong>It's an update!<strong>

**References!  
><strong>Kagome: fav . me / d6a3moa  
>Shippou: fav . me  d6a3lxs  
>Shippou 2: fav . me  d6a3nq3

Just close the spaces. I drew them myself, and I found it could be helpful if one got an issue imagining the characters in Yana Toboso's style. Enjoy!

* * *

><p>His fingernails felt like they were on fire, hotter than brimstones, the strands of black hair were like burning lava, and the inside of his eyes were heavier than a giant blessed statue of a deity. Sebastian couldn't help but having the sense of being in hell, being tortured instead of being the one torturing. It was a thought he didn't like, considering he liked causing pain.<p>

He never thought a mere spirit, an _animal_, would actually get stronger, let alone even have a brain enough to arrive and strive at the higher power. The only exceptions tended to be cats. Any felines were typically the only ones that had an advanced sense of supernaturalism and were often associated with it, but rarely ever took advantage of the knowledge.

Sebastian liked cats, and found them beautiful because of that intelligence. Dogs, birds, and so on, only knew enough to _hate_ him and _fear_ him. Cats knew and didn't mind what he was, as long he had no intentions to harm them, even choosing to be very friendly and fearless with him. Any other creatures, humans included, that looked to be friendly always had an inkling of fear, and felt the need to be submissive.

_This...thing_ here were neither fearful or submissive of him.

Those shiny green eyes glared with hatred, something out of norm with most mortal creatures. Whatever this Shippou was, was abnormal and powerful in his own right. The girl he was constantly following and hovering over, must had done something great in order to win over him and his endless loyalty and pushed him over to achieve something akin to an near-godhood.

Something similar to that which Sebastian had.

He bit into his tongue hard, almost cleaving it into halves, drawing blood that was dribbling into two thin rivers out of the corners of his lips, to just to keep himself from _screaming_. The devil _knew_ that was what this red thing wanted.

Shippou frowned deeper, when Sebastian refused to reward him what he desired to hear. "Fine, be stubborn then." He causally tossed a hand over, lighting a fire blooming inside of Sebastian's intestines.

The knuckles dove and slammed onto the pebbled ground, dirtying his fine gloves, as Sebastian fell to his knees and started to choke. _My stomach...! It's melting!_ It was so hot he could feel the organs practically melting within. He couldn't even feel the lava-like heat anymore. The blood-bile rose to his throat, and Sebastian began to puke it onto the ground, emptying whatever that was left inside his stomach.

It didn't take long to start pouring the vile-tasting _liquefied_ organs themselves out as well.

Shippou greedily took joy into watching the devil whom had pissed him off suffer. And suffer greatly indeed. He barked out in laughter, "My, my, you will get them back, I'm sure, considering what you are." Although Sebastian could barely hear the redhead over the sound of his agony, he knew Shippou was mocking him, "When you have your organs return to you at last, I will do it again, and _again_." That word echoed, childishly.

Sebastian gave a fearful glance at that thought.

Shippou grinned, madder than before, at that, "Lets this be a lesson to you, to never harm my little missus again, and not to be so arrogant and underestimate me, yes?" He mocked, though his jovial tone gained a serious edge.

Sebastian spat out the leftover acid from his destroyed stomach lining as he glared. His throat burned from rejecting the dangerous acid, and everything that followed below. The linings inside were frayed, weakened, and his tongue was almost a half, yet he still gained confidence to speak, "I learned my lesson," he spat out, hissing, "what about you?"

Shippou vanished, when a flying kitchen knife was howling and tunneling through the air at where the red thing was sitting on his invisible chair. The knife continued on the path and disappeared in the beyond. Sebastian growled, finding some strength to wipe away the dried mess on his chin and moved onto a knee.

His bright crimson eyes glided to the right, knowing of the presence that appeared hazardously close to him. Sebastian found that he hated the closeness. He was teetering, but managed not to fall on the dark foulness that was bubbling on the dirt. Knives and forks skidded neatly between his fingers, and Sebastian didn't move his head to see the green-eyed gentleman even when he was clapping.

"Oh, you managed to fight back! Bravo, bravo!" Shippou, despite that he knew Sebastian was not looking, gave a spiteful smile, "That will make this game all the more _fun_~!" The butler's former-black pupils transformed into scarlet sharp-edged slits, the red and green colors were clashing together.

Sebastian lashed out, slashing where Shippou stood, and he stepped back, narrowly avoiding the small yet sharpened kitchen weapons. Only a portion of the cloth of his pants was shredded.

His eyes examined his slacks critically, disappointed at the small openings Sebastian left for him, "That was my favorite," Shippou complained, "a Christmas gift from my lady! It was new!"

Sebastian sneered at the childishness the man shown, "You should be able to fix it, why whine?" He staggered, but managed to stand on his own feet. The red-eyed butler doesn't like the feel of having a hollow, _organ-less_ abdomen, and was thankful for the regenerative ability. Until the healing progress is completed, Sebastian would need to be careful.

Shippou snorted, "You got on your feet, that's a nice start." He then tugged on a glove, "Let's try and keep this fun, shall we?" A glove was partially removed, and the redhead began to pull on the second with his _fanged_ teeth with care to not to tear the fine fabric.

The devil saw there were no symbol at all, on either hands, as he did the same with his own, dirtied gloves (the tools were oddly gone from the sight), "You didn't make any contract with the girl at all?" He wondered out loud.

The spirit gave him a hardened look, "She owed me nothing and I owed her everything." He scoffed, pocketing the gloves. "Not everything had to be a requirement, or an exchange." The tips of his long fingers grew into white talons, gleaming under the dimmed light.

Sebastian hummed, the situation though still tense was strangely causal, "I hardly heard of such a thing, less so when it's from one like you." He folded his stained gloves carefully and placed it inside his jacket, "A life debt? How rare." The butler glanced at his polished black-colored nails, the contract was bold against his pale skin.

Shippou shut his eyes, remembering an old memory, "More than a life debt, she had my eternal loyalty." His eyes opened, into a glare, and his lips thinned, "Not that you even know what it truly is." A bone snapped into place, as he rotated his shoulders, "Enough of this idle chat!"

"I agree." Sebastian's eyes glowed with glee, "I still owed you the damage you did onto me." The kitchen utensils reappeared into his hands.

Shippou rose a brow at this, but said nothing, when a shiny curving knife appeared in each hand. The grandfather of his lady always had a high opinion on a saying, _Less is More,_ which he took to heart. No need to take more when he could easily cause plenty of damage with just two simple knives.

The second Sebastian moved, Shippou lunged. When the redhead was right in front of him, the devil slashed out, the silverwares were stained red. He growled, when he realized Shippou jumped out of the way. He felt a small triumph when he saw a small flayed cloth of the grey vest fell to the ground.

"...!" Twin knives were embedded in each of his shoulders, from behind, when Shippou flipped over Sebastian. Using the weight Shippou had he pushed down on his feet, hands stubbornly still on the handles of the knives, and pulled the body behind over.

Sebastian gave a sharp intake of breath, when gravity tore farther into his wounds. Shippou certainly knew where the pressure points were in his shoulders, because he couldn't move to get away, and felt an headache incoming and his teeth aching. Sebastian saw the dying sky, just for a brief moment, to the end of the path of circus tents. His face then met the gravel below.

The devil growled, in annoyance, when the ashen dirt fell into his eyes, and his hands twitched. The knives were still embedded, and Shippou sighed in aggravation. He had his hands removed from the handles to shake his wrists, as Sebastian was heavier than he looked, even without his stomach, "Tsk! May I have these back then?" He didn't wait for an answer, placing the soles of his shoes on the dark-haired butler's upper arms.

Just the same, Sebastian had to have his input, "I need to put those back where they belonged..." He was referencing of the knives into Shippou's instead.

Shippou snorted, hands on the grips, "You really like having things in you, don't you?" The way he said it, honestly sounded lewd, at which the fallen male took offense of. He tensed the utensils tightly in between his fingers, wondering if he should stab them in the thing's loins.

It would have hurt.

Sensing an intention, Shippou put down more weight, leaving Sebastian immobile, as he clutched his knives. In a quick motion, he jarred the weapons out roughly. Sebastian hissed at the violent treatment, and glared at the clothed legs before his face.

Shippou pondered on where to stab next. The spine?

Hmm, he could do that...but that would have leave the bastard paralyzed, which meant boring. He wanted fun, not boring.

Once Sebastian felt that he could move now with the knives gone from his back, he pushed off the weights on his arms. With Shippou teetering, the butler then dove a fisted hand upward for the loins. The utensils gleamed brightly, and greedily, at the target.

Shippou coiled back, narrowly avoided his beloved parts from being stabbed. He choked back, when four forks ended up in his lower stomach instead. A pool of darkness grew on the grey fabric of his vest, and on a sleeve that went through it. The red thing snarled, in a great distaste.

"I found that payback is always nice to give, don't you agree?" Sebastian mocked, "Now I just need to empty out your stomach, to have the equal payment!"

Shippou disagreed, flipping away the knives into the sleeves, and grabbed the devil's collar. He slammed down the arm out of his stomach with a foot. Shippou then threw Sebastian aside, and the man was slammed into the charred dirt. The redhead looked down in disgust, when he realized the forks were abandoned into him.

Sebastian laughed, when he pushed himself off his back from the ground. He watched Shippou plucking each silver fork and throwing them aside like garbage, "So what was it you said to me a moment ago?" Pausing, he pretended to think back, before nodding and chuckling, "You _really like having things in you, don't you?_" Sebastian parroted back Shippou's earlier words.

Shippou glared.

Sebastian moved his head to the side, missing a fork zooming at him. He sighed, when he felt he had a scratch opening up on his cheek. He wiped the dewing blood on a thumb, before licking it. The small cut closed up.

He got on his feet, when he saw Shippou started to run at him. Sebastian took only a second to step back, Shippou stopped few inches before him, a sole drilling in the dirt. Turning, the red thing swung a foot in the air. It loomed at his face.

Sebastian grabbed the looming ankle, and held it while he began to swing Shippou around in the circle. Shippou didn't have a chance to give protests. The devil's shoes moved as if he was dancing, the tails of his jacket traveled with grace. The sounds it made even sounded elegant, he mused. Sebastian was amused even more when he could see the tail end of the vibrant hair while swinging the poor creature-butler around.

It was dizzying, for Shippou, who went through at least ten rotations already, before Sebastian decided he was bored with swinging him around. The grip on the ankle was loosened, and the redhead found himself soaring through the midair.

Sebastian slowed his steps, before stilling himself at last. He watched Shippou crashing into a nearby tent. The tent collapsed from the impact, the supports and all, and hid the body with its' giant, plastic-like material. He absently noted that the stripes were purple and white. Such an awful color combination, he thought.

The devil couldn't contained his laughter when he smelt the familiar scent of rust: blood.

The fabric crackled, when the frazzled green-eyed butler struggled to get on his feet. He pushed aside the ugly-colored material, revealing himself to the laughing devil. The sound Sebastian made only went louder. Shippou snarled, keeping the winces in. He found it difficult to move, with the large wooden pillar sticking out in his chest. It was twice the size of a adult human arm, and it was dangerously close to his heart.

Shippou received it when he broke the supporting beam into the halves by the impact. His body took in the bottom of the broken halves. The top one simply pulled the fabric it was connected to over him.

Although Shippou would simply shrug away any harm to his heart, like it was nothing, it would not do if something large was hard to remove to start with.

Sebastian grinned, "You were right, this is fun." He combed back the unruly hair from his face, his eyes gleefully took in every wound Shippou had upon his body.

The red thing didn't answer, choosing to take action to remove the foreign object from his body. An action no human should hope to survive from. He stressed his talon-nails until the pillar was forced to accept them inside, and began to _pull_ it outward. He couldn't push it back, as the wood was already inside the ground, and he was already struggling, so he could not walk forward.

Something told him it'd be no point anyway, as Sebastian would have merely walked over and pushed him down. He could have made it so Shippou would have no choice but to do it the hard, long way.

With a slow wood-puncturing pattern already set, the pillar was pulled out of the ground, gaining two more feet in length. It was slowly passed through his body. Shippou twisted out a sigh when he finally dragged the entire length _out_. That was an experience he did _not_ want to go through ever again.

The support was painted red with his living fluid, and he glowered in disgust.

Shippou would be picking wood splinters out from his insides for days, if not weeks.

_How lovely!_ he grumbled in his mind.

He placed a hand on the flat bottom of the painted support and held it high, with no struggle with the weight or the absurd length. It didn't even wobble. If anything, it made the sight look strange. A man with the column of wood easily twice, almost thrice, his height balancing perfectly on a single hand...Yes, quite strange.

He eyed the highly-entertained bastard. Shippou drew out a long sigh once the large hole in his chest was healed, leaving only the smooth skin to be seen. His clothes were damaged, but he will repair it in due time. Now he had a pest to take care of.

"I'm sure this memory will be one of your fondest, wouldn't it?" Shippou remarked, coolly.

Sebastian gave a cheeky smile, "Yes, it will be."

Shippou didn't allow himself to scowl once he felt the blood began dripping down on the hand from the pillar. He remembered how the devils enjoyed a lake of blood, and decided to comment on the idea, "You lots sure like blood." He casually bounced the long thing in his hand, an eye bore into the hellish man, "Maybe you can have some of mine!"

Shippou pulled back his hand, and thrust it with all of his might. The wooden support was pummeled toward where Sebastian stood. He jumped, and hopped on the pillar. He lazily jogged to the top as it was drilling deep into the ground. Sebastian perched on the edge once it stopped moving.

The pillar was once again a pillar, though at an acute angle. Nonetheless it didn't move, not an inch when Sebastian stood on it. A fleeting idea ran through both minds at that it would be difficult to be removed by humans. Neither gave much thought on the blood that covered it however.

A finger scooped through the red coat, and Sebastian tasted it. He shrugged, "Not bad, could use more salt."

Shippou snorted, but said nothing, as he gathered up yet another pillar (the first half of the one he had earlier, actually) in his arms. The redhead gave no warning, propping it on both hands and above his head, and violently threw it at the perching Sebastian.

The devil tossed his body off the log, and narrowly missed it. It grazed through the fabric of his jacket from his shoulder, tearing a large hole in it. Underneath the layers of cloth was a long, fat scratch, dewing red and straining the white shirt.

The pillar vanished beyond the sky.

Sebastian narrowed his eyes at this, tugging the materials apart, "Well, then you already paid me your dues." He commented drily.

A glance was turned to the healing chest, Shippou rose a brow at that, "Not...even close." He stressed, pointing at the hole, "Not even close, _sir_."

The devil resisted the temptation to roll his eyes, the silverware reappeared in his hands. He leisurely stepped forward, spitting one utensil at a time at Shippou. More reappeared.

Shippou sighed heavily and pulled the tent's fabric frontward. Hiding behind the fabric from the devil's sight, he allowed it to take the impact of the bullet-like forks and knives. It created loud booming sounds after each utensil.

There was a delay in the silverware's throwing, and this was a cue that Sebastian was gathering more. Shippou then twisted the fabric powerfully, and continued to twist, his arms moving in a circle. Outward Sebastian scowled when he saw something that appeared akin like a white and purple tornado. He vanished in a blur when it returned his utensils by spitting them out at him.

The trail chased Sebastian, no matter where he disappeared to. One fork in particular suffered a misdirection, and flew to the sky.

"Ung!" He hissed, when a tail of his jacket was torn off by a passing knife. It left behind a gash on his thigh. Sebastian vanished again, to behind random stack of crates. A fork ripped through the wood of the crate, and stabbed him on a knee, "Eng!" Sebastian bit back a surprised cry.

He ran again, and thought, _This was the last one I threw at him... _Feeling confident that he no longer had to run from the tornado spitting sharp things, he reappeared in a distance ahead of Shippou, who was still producing the fabric twister.

The devil remained on his toes, cautious.

Shippou stopped, and whipped it at where Sebastian stood. Sebastian bolted. The twisted fabric began to fan out as it chased him, and slapped the fleeing butler aside. It thudded on the ground, now abandoned, sending flakes of dust and dirt airborne. He rolled to his side, with a groan, and felt his partially-healed stomach slosh inside with a gross sound. Sebastian frowned at the noise, feeling a bit nauseous.

Shippou clapped his sleeves to dust off the small remnant of dirt that fell on his shoulders from the tent, "Whew, that's quite a work out!" He never felt that liberated before. Of course he never faced someone of Sebastian's caliber, so that was a first.

Inhaling before exhaling, he cracked his neck with a pop, and rotated his shoulders and heard the same sound again. "Hmm..." Green eyes gilded to the other butler, slightly disappointed that he was already on his feet again. Familiar knives slipped back into his hands once more, and a foot in front of the another.

Sebastian breathed out, ignoring the half-vast stomach moving disgustingly within. He calculated his plan, reflecting his memories on where his silverwares laid abandoned. There were three between him and where the red thing was standing. And by the look of it, Shippou paced like a patient predator, waiting for a slightest twitch before he pounces.

The devil smiled, then vanished. The red thing gave chase.

A red-painted fork that stood in the dirt, mere feet away from the black-haired male, disappeared. A small thin crater appeared afterward.

A knife that was stuck in the bloodied wood pillar, also vanished. The pillar was sliced neatly into two parts. A part fell to the ground next to its' grounded kin.

Another knife, almost buried by the dirt; also gone. What followed was a flutter of black cloth.

A bended fork was sticking out of the cloth of the abandoned tent; gone. The tent was shredded.

Two blurred figures clashed, the weapons screamed against each other.

_Clang! Clang! Tikkk-clang!_

Both landed on their feet, away from each other in a long distance. Two pairs of shoes left a skidded crater each.

Shippou crossed his arms, his knives glittered with victory as they were stained red. He chuckled, slightly out of breath, "Do you think you will need more than just forks and silly butter knives?" He mocked.

Sebastian blew his again unruly hair from his eyes, "I supposed you do have a point." He agreed, two utensils in each hand weren't enough. Even though one fork, the bended one, was already righted, it still didn't do enough damages to the creature thing.

He needed more.

"I will need to gather just four more." Sebastian mused.

Shippou shook his head, "Never took you to like being the chased one."

The red-eyed male laughed breathlessly, "Many like to chase me. It is inevitable that you do as well."

The red thing glared, "Touché." His legs took off underneath his body, lunging after the devil. He took off as well.

Four abandoned utensils were gathered together and more damages were done to the property of the circus.

A certain watcher had had enough of the childish quarrel, and pushed up his glasses, "This is ridiculous." He sighed, and wondered, _How do one break up a fight between children?_

In midair, Shippou was aiming a knife toward the devil's neck, while Sebastian was lunging at both the red thing's eyes and stomach. They froze at the sight of a long metal shooting between them. It managed to cut a strand of hair from both butlers' heads. Just as the hairs landed on the dirt, they kicked off each other (Shippou kicked a knee, Sebastian kicked a thigh) to push themselves back on the earth.

They turned at the interrupter, unhappy with having their fun ended so abruptly. The metal rod was pulled back with a snap.

"I knew we had a spectator..." Shippou started, nodding to the visitor in a polite greeting.

Sebastian frowned, "and it turned out to be Mr. Spears."

William shook his head, pushing his glasses back, making the familiar light to roll off, "It is impossible not to detect such a high spike of energy in this area." He narrowed his eyes at Shippou, "Thankfully someone placed the safety of the mortals first, before engaging in such a dangerous action."

Shippou hummed.

"Now then, don't you both think it went on long enough?" The senior reaper eyed the butlers. Neither said a word, both looking mildly cheeky, yet glaring at each other. His eyes closed from irritation, "Nonetheless, I am sure your master and your lady were wondering where you both went off to...I believed Lady Higurashi already had an idea." William hummed, now eying Sebastian. Hatred filtered through his two-toned eyes.

Sebastian blinked, "Ah I forgot, Young Master needed to be dried..."

Shippou snorted.

William glared, "I hoped you realized how arrogant you are." An insult was burning hot on his tongue, readied to be used.

The devil laughed, "Pride is what I am, surely you knew that." The laughter died, and admitted, "Mr. Reynard ended up to be more than he let on, and I do look forward dealing more with him, without restrictions of mortality."

Sebastian bowed to both gentlemen, tucking in the kitchen silverwares into a hidden place with his fully-repaired jacket. He walked off, pulling on a pair of clean gloves, with a contented smile.

Once they were sure he was gone too far to be able to hear, William remarked, "Arrogant prick." his tone annoyed and almost angered.

Shippou agreed, "I will have more fun destroying him soon." He fixed his suit, into its completeness. His long nails were filed, and his hands were placed back into his gloves. He readjusted the chain of his pocket watch, and briefly checked it for the time.

The reaper fixed his glasses, "Brilliant job with burning his intestines, that was beautiful to see." He commended, though his voice was dull. Shippou knew him enough to know that the strict reaper was honestly impressed.

"Thank you." The butler smiled.

"Do you believe he is aware of the full extent of the grudge?" He was curious, never turning his head to the exorcist's butler.

Shippou shook his head in negative, "I do not believe so. He will find out soon enough." He looked apologetic, "Ah, I should be going as well, it is late, and I do not believe milady had her meals at all today." He bowed to the reaper and vanished.

As soon as he disappeared, the silence was gone. The muttering of the voices reminded the reaper what was exactly wrong with the picture.

William blinked and flashed a look of anger when he questioned to no one in particular, "What about the damages?"

People shrieked at the fallen surrounding, and one was so baffled at the fallen tent that all the person can do was to scream the accusations at the people he thought had done it.

"Suits! What just happened here?!" A familiar voice had him groaning in his head.

William dryly thought, _This is shaping up to be a _lovely_ night after all...I hate overtimes._

The both halves of the pillar were no longer red coated.

**THELOVELESS**

Miles away from the circus, a _wet_ fisherman was staring at the pillar standing in the middle of a lake for a long while. The silence was broken. "Where did this came from?" He said out loud, looking to the heaven, "How and why did this fall out of the sky?!"

The fisherman started to hollering out for his wife, "Beth!" He pointed his fishing rod at the wood, "Come and see! There is something strange in the lake!" His boat was rocked with his excitement.

He squinted his aged eyes on the top of the pillar, there was something odd sticking in the wood, "Is that a fork? Why is there a fork?"

"_Bethany_!"

**THELOVELESS**

Earlier, the children continued their chat. Ciel was wet still, and Kagome was dangling her feet off of a crate next to where he was sitting on the ground.

Ciel shook his head, a dark look fell upon his face, "I do not think I want to speak of that." He refused to look at the female child. Unaware, a shiver fled from his body, as he concentrated on everything but the cold and the dusty memories that was drawing up in his head.

Kagome barely frowned, tilting her head to a side, "Of why you are wet?" Damien snorted and Lilith cooed in realization. Ciel blinked, and turned to the exorcist.

"He must have an impression that you were asking of his background, milady." The female cat plush explained.

The lady gave a look, furrowing her brows, "Why would I ask something like that?" She pulled Lilith to her tummy, and clutched, "If I refused to tell my own, then it'd be unfair if the earl had to." The exorcist shook her head, stuffing the rising emotions inside with practiced ease, "I'm sorry if you had that impression, Mr. Phantomhive."

Ciel resisted sighing, "Please, call me Ciel. We met more than enough times as it is." He tugged on the fabric tighter, hating the feel of fabrics heavy with water. Kagome frowned at that, and shifted around. He blinked at extra weight on his shoulders, seeing Kagome kneeling before him. He began to protest, "There is no need-"

The girl shook her head, "No, no, if we are going to have this discussion for a short length of time, then you need more warmth than I do." She pulled her coat on the earl's closer together. "I do not want you to get sick on my behalf." Kagome gave a small guilty look at the thought of him being ill.

He tugged the sweet-smelling jacket, unsure if he wanted to pull it closer, or push it off, "But you will be cold and I-"

Kagome snorted, "I'm used to it. Spirits like to be below freezing points and there are times I had to go without any warmth." She waved her hand around, as if to established her point, "This? This is nothing to me." She rubbed her neck.

Damien and Lilith scrambled after her hands, and Ciel couldn't tell if they disagreed or agreed. It was hard to say with the lack of any expression.

They held on to the skirt, when she moved back to the crate. The cats again scrambled after her hands when the girl sat down. Lilith and Damien each grabbed on a hand, and held on to it. They were trying to warm her hands, regardless the fact that they had no warmth of their own at all.

Ciel idly wondered why he didn't really care on why the stuffed things were alive. Alas, there were more important things, like his duties to the queen, than something that have no simple answers. If she wished to hear on what happened to him a mere moment ago and is willing to lend a helping hand in the exchange, then so be it. He will tell and he will get needed answers to the case he was assigned to.

In the end, few of his priories _must_ be fulfilled.

_One_, end the disappearing of the children.

_Two_, if possible, return the children to their families.

_Three_, to see if the Lady Exorcist, known officially as Baroness Kagome Luscius-Higurashi, and her faithful butler, Shippou Reynard, were a threat to him, his end goal, and/or to the Queen.

For now though, the Lady Exorcist won't to be seen as an enemy until a future action proven her to be considered as one. Until then, Ciel decided her to be remain clueless on his thoughts and to use her as a good tool to arrive at his end goal. Kagome could be very helpful giving answers for his buried questions. After all, she speaks to the dead, did she not?

She could be a very useful tool, indeed.

A sneeze exploded from his mouth, reminding him there was a story that needed to be told and a girl who was patiently waiting in the cold. "Bless you," she murmured, mechanically. Her eyes seemed far away, in a place never to be reached by strangers.

It startled Ciel.

It was the same look he employed when he found that he lost everything, and a burning hatred toward himself.

The expression was gone when she turned to Ciel, her mood changed in an instant, "Ciel..." The name was rolled off her tongue, and it felt strange to her to say it, "If you wait any longer, you will have a cold." Ciel caught the tiniest hint of impatience and worry in her almost dull tone.

_She's a bit of a moody sort, isn't she?_ Ciel pursed his lips at that thought, _I supposed she's not boring after all._ He nodded, apologetic, "I'm sorry. I was thinking on how I will begin my tale."

Kagome shrugged, "Start at the beginning as of why you are here." It was a suggestion he found retardant, considering he was quite sure the exorcist knew why he was here.

Ciel pinned her a stare, "I'm sure you know."

She nodded, "I do. However, I was _hired_ to perform my duties. You were _commanded_ to come here. The reasons between us are different. I want to hear yours." Kagome answered quietly. She found that her throat was somewhat sore from the amount of talking she had done today. Her eyes focused on the Queen's Watchdog, now behaving as if she was trying to ignore everything in her surrounding but the boy. It wasn't obvious to many, but as Ciel was well-trained to detect lies in one's face, he spotted the effort.

It was curiosity.

The boy nodded to her response, "Very well." He pulled in the two layers of fabrics tighter, suddenly glad that the girl had given him her coat. It was colder because the wind was blowing. The smell was wafted to his nose, reminding him of spring flowers. "I was ordered by the Queen, to find and return the missing children."

Kagome gave a skewed stare and a heavy sigh fell from her lips. It was a sign that she knew what happened to the children, or had an idea.

Ciel noted this and filed it away for later questioning. It doesn't appeared to be of good news either.

For someone who was _supposedly_ near mute, she was honestly not that good into keeping things subtle. Perhaps it was a lady's thing? Elizabeth was horrible at hiding secrets. Mey-Rin was in love with Sebastian and loved cute things, despite her attempts to hide the obvious truths. He could name few more women, like his aunt...

_No, let's not mention that woman. She is long dead now._

"It seemed that when children entered this circus, they never left." Ciel explained, keeping his visible eye on the girl's expression.

She shook her head, her shoulders shook in small degree, as she found some morbid humor in his statement. She kept her face straight, and Kagome didn't say a word. Only her shoulders gave away her emotions.

_She found this funny? _He thought, starting to worry over the girl's mental state, _I can't predict her at all. I heard about mood swings, but this is on borderline ridiculous...Still..._He pinned her another stare, _even if I will never learn more of her, it was clear she had been _abused_._

Ciel pushed the thought aside, and continued, "The number was heavy enough for the Queen to take notice, and I was ordered here to investigate and find the reasons for the disappearing." He paused, to briefly considered if he needed to mention the meeting with the Undertaker, "No bodies were brought to the Undertaker, which farther hinted the possibility of the children still being alive." He was still curious as of why she visited the Undertaker, but that's a question for later.

The earl fisted the borrowed fabric in frustration, turning his eye to the dirt beneath his damp shoes, "And well, my butler and I did not see anything out of norms from the obvious." The wind blew in their ways, battering the tent behind, forcing the poor Ciel to violently shiver from the coldness and wetness. The powerful saccharine scent brought comfort, reminding him of the coat he was given to wear.

Kagome shifted, but waited for him to speak farther.

Ciel breathed out, pulling his legs closer to his body, and covered them with the fleece blanket, "Your tiger," _How did it ended up here anyway, from such a distance from her home?_, "ended up biting Sebastian's head, and he was send to the doctor here." Kagome flinched at the name and the movement had his attention. He saw Kagome pulling away a hand from a Cat and placed it on the neck, her eyes on the corner of the crate.

Ciel narrowed his eye, in suspicion. _She reacted at his name? Why?_ It was perhaps an question he will need to ask once the case is finally shut closed. Now, he need to concentrate on the missing children.

"He found a hallmark on a prosthesis, from Beast's, I believed her name to be, and met few people there." The earl mused, before giving a disgusted sigh, "He ended up inviting me to be a part of the cast." He turned to the girl, "You helped, with the daggers."

Kagome nodded. It was yesterday she helped taught Ciel to improve his aim, after all.

"Sebastian..._helped_," He had to stressed that word, as his back bruises screamed at him from memory. Kagome flinched again, though more subtly, from the name. "with the walking the tightropes. Needless to say, I was accepted as a part of the circus." Ciel refused to counts their trickery into making him to _smile_ as an entrance exam, and was left unmentioned.

This meant she wouldn't learn of his assigned name either.

It was too embarrassing.

Ciel frowned tightly, "We were given a tour hours later." That was when he spotted Kagome wandering about...and the absence of his butler for a short period. His eye lightened in realization. _Oh, bloody hell, Sebastian, what did you do? _He bit back his tongue to keep himself from asking. From her reaction, she didn't wish to speak of it.

He continued, "Once the tour was completed, we were encouraged to exercise and to train for a trick inside of a training tent." The earl hummed, "We encountered Mr. Spears there, the reaper. We discussed for a brief period of time."

Kagome's glance told him of her doubt that it went smoothly. Nonetheless she didn't speak of it. He combed his wet hair back, the strings of his eye patch gave an itchy sensation on his skin.

"After that, well...I was assigned a roommate..."

_"Hiiiii! You can call me Freckles!" (1*) He was a young teenager with short sand-colored hair and a visible blue eye. Numbers of freckles dotted his paled face, thus the name, and the left of the face were hidden by his hair. Freckles wore causal, baggy clothes, more suited for working, than for performing. Nonetheless he was now Ciel's roommate._

_He cheerfully handed out a hand, to be shaken._

_Ciel gave a weak smile and shook, "Y-yeah, nice to meet you, Freckles."_

_Behind them were two men glaring, the shadows of hatred were rising higher than even the waving oceans would not hope to reach. "This is the worst." Williams commented, unhappy with the leader's decision. Sebastian agreed, though he gave a sarcastic smile to counteract William's grimace. _

_They were left alone, Joker and Dagger both deciding to hit the hay. Freckles laughed, "Well, I will lead you to your tents, ja?" He ignored the fact that Williams already knew where his tent was located considering he had been here longer than Ciel and Sebastian._

_Freckles grabbed Ciel's baggage and ignored his protests, "Come on along!" He hollered at the men. _

_Ciel grudgingly followed Freckles out, already feeling unsafe without Sebastian. He looked behind him and saw that neither moved from their spots despite that Freckles already called them. _Imbeciles._ He thought absently, before turning his sight on the back of the older boy._ This sure made things difficult. But, I will prevail._ Ciel firmly nodded to himself._

_"So! Smile, right?" Freckles started, "I hear that Blacky was an excellent performer? Joker been all on him lately. Even Dagger and Beasty too!" He twisted to Ciel, hands behind him, and walking backward surprisingly expertly while approaching their assigned tent._

_Ciel paused, finding Freckles' actions bizarre, but replied just the same, wanting him to just to shut up, "Ah, yeah, he's...was a...butler at a manor. His duties were very demanding and he was also a...bodyguard of sorts too." He resumed his walking._

_"Oh, really?" Freckles spun around and walked like a normal person would, and slowed to equal the younger male's pace, "Neat! Blacky seemed very talented! I wouldn't mind seeing him in action myself!" He grinned. The teenager blinked and started to laugh, "Oh, whoops! We just went past our tent! Hahah, sorry." _

_Ciel gave an exasperated look, "That's alright?"_

_Freckles moved around him, "Sorry, sorry!" He laughed again, and pointed to a tent directly in front of him, "Here it is! Your new home!" _

Home? _The earl shuddered at that word. _That is not a home!

_"Ahh...that's nice?" He attempted to sound positive, but failing. Freckles didn't hear him, as he already went inside. The loud noise of the flap told him that, and Ciel sighed and hoped that the boy wasn't a loud sleeper. _

_He followed in, and sighed at the sight of the bunk beds. Freckles already placed Ciel's things down on a tiny table, and had a foot on the bottom rung of a ladder of the bunk. "Do you want the top?"_

_His head shook, not wanting the top, "No. I'd prefer the bottom." _I don't want to climb.

_Freckles nodded, "Okies-dokies then!" He shifted from the ladder to pick up items and causally tossed it on the top bed, and he looked curious, "Say...you sure speak all fancy-like..."_

_Ciel blinked and weakly laughed, forcing up an act, "Do I really? I had been working in the manor since I was little..."_

_Freckles nodded, interested, "Ooooh I see~Well, if you need any help, just lemme know! Been workin' in this circus for a long time now!" Ciel nodded at this, and Freckles searched into a bag, from his bed, "Say, I have some candies here, very popular!" He pulled out three different colored lollipops and held them out to Ciel, "Got strawberry, caramel, and chocolate! Want one?"_

_The boy smiled feebly, "Sure, I'll take caramel." _My own products...how funny._ He unwrapped the candy and accepted it in his mouth, hearing Freckles to chatter on, _At this rate I won't be able to meet Sebastian tonight, to look for clues of the missing children..._Something told him Sebastian wouldn't be able to meet him either._

_Probably because of that reaper._

I won't be sleeping very well tonight._ He stared at the lumpy looking mattress and cringed at this._

_And indeed he didn't. Freckles finally decided he was tired of talking and told him they both need to go to sleep. Ciel changed out of his costume into a more-comfortable __pair of pajamas__. The older boy was already out like light on the top bed, when Ciel kept trying to find a position in the bed. Once he did, the snoring kept waking Ciel. The bed was not comfortable at all. Somehow he still managed to sleep through the night. _

_The next day began with__ a horrible morning, and he was jolted awake by a hard push on a shoulder. He blinked drowsily and murmured, "Sebastian?" He saw Freckles giving him a screwed look._

_"What...never mind. Wake up, Smiley! Rookies gotta make the breakfast grub!" Freckles was loud, and Ciel yelped. A hand instinctively went on the eye of the contract, while another shifting for his eye patch._

_"Hurry, hurry! No slackin' around!" Freckles insisted, already finished dressing up for the day. He doesn't seem to care much about his messy hair._

_Ciel sputtered, trying to tie on the eye patch. He didn't do a good job, but if it stayed on then he supposed that didn't matter. It was so horribly awkward for him to rush putting on clothes, and he didn't do a good job of it._

_Freckles was already gone by the time Ciel had on his pants, complaining how slow Smile was being._

_He blanched, placing on his shoes, and was forced to run after Freckles with them untied. He fell down a few times on the way. All he knew was that, he didn't want to go about his day hungry, and he needed to get through this so he can go back his real home._

_Sebastian laughed once he saw Ciel huffing and carrying a bucket of potatoes outside to an area where he can do his assigned duty; peeling them, "You cannot even dress yourself properly." Ciel's attire was messy and skewed, something unusual with one who tended to be more pressed and neatly. _

_Ciel grumbled, "I was in a hurry." He pointed his small blade threateningly to the adult, warning him not to aggravate the boy. Another hand had a peeled potato in it._

_Sebastian laughed again, and noticed the badly tied knot of the eye patch. He placed down a bowl on the ground and went about fixing it, "My, my, this won't to do."_

_People turned to stare, wondering why an older man was tending to a child not related to him, and Ciel blanched. Freckles laughed, "Blacky ain't your mum!" _

_Ciel jumped away from Sebastian and sputtered out an apology, "It was..a habit!" _

_He turned his head to the butler, and hissed quietly, "Don't treat me like your master while we are here! Leave me alone!"_

_Sebastian nodded, confirming the order, "Very well. Without a farther delay..." Sebastian pointed at Ciel's potatoes in the bucket, "Do you plan on giving the skins more potatoes than the potatoes themselves?" He chuckled, and Freckles screamed at the horrid job Ciel did. Ciel yelped and profusely apologized._

_"You already peeled so many of them too!" Freckles was horrified, and picked a bare sliver of a potato, "Not much to eat either..." He pouted._

_The butler smiled, gathering the bucket, "Worry not. I can make something out of them!" He snapped his fingers, "I believed there are fish in the larder, so let us fry and crisp them and make them fish and chips." Freckles liked the idea and cheered the man on._

_It didn't take long for him to produce the dish._

_Ciel was left grumbling over his butler._

_Whether by instinct or smell, people already swarmed after Sebastian for his delicious meals. Freckles yelped and dragged Ciel with, "We gotta hurry, or we will get no food!" _

_In the end, the only thing he managed to get was a mere loaf of bread on a plate. Freckles laughed weakly at him about it, while his own plate had a high pile of food, "Awww, fine! I will share with you!" Freckles gave him a generous share, "You will need to have your belly full so you can grow big!" He giggled from his seat, munching his meal from the table._

_Ciel sweated at his cheery response and thanked him. He began eating his given breakfast while the older male chewed down like he was a starved man. Freckles burped, pausing, "I gotta say, he's good at makin' good grubs, even outta of somethin' you messed up!" _

_Ciel nodded, "Yes." He chewed his foods harder than needed, to keep in an insult._

_"I guess that's no surprise given he was a butler for someone fancy-like." Freckles belched again, and the young boy chewed on his food to keep himself from remarking on the lack of manners. "Thanks for the chow, Blacky!" He hollered at the man elsewhere, probably busying with cleaning. Freckles moved to get up from his seat, his plate already empty within matter of minutes, "C'mon, we gotta practice." _

_Ciel blanched again, his plate was not even empty. He forced himself to hurry, or Freckles will leave him behind again._

_A while later, Freckles was staring at a wincing Ciel on the ground, exasperated, "Where's your sense of balance from the tryout?!" He sighed, "It's not that hard...It's the basic, pure basic!" They were both inside of the same training tent Ciel and Sebastian visited yesterday, and it was busy. _

From the tryout?_ Ciel wondered on his wording, _There were no one else but a girl in white, and Joker and Dagger..._He shrugged internally, _No matter. It's not important.

_He rubbed his head, whimpering at the aches. Freckles sighed, and offered his hands, of which Ciel accepted. He was helped up off the ground. There were sounds of people awing, and Freckles looked up and was wowed, "Damn, they are good!" He grinned at Ciel, "You gotta get back to the track! Blacky is rising over you! Even Suits is amazing!"_

_Ciel glowered at Sebastian high on a stack of giant balls. The devil bastard skillfully managed to move around the stack, without any wobbling or falling over. Next to him was Williams standing on a long board upon a long stack of steel logs, behaving as if he was surfing as one would in the sea. The reaper senior was holding on his rod tightly, keeping it in front from where Sebastian was, as if he felt threatened by the devil in disguise._

_"No ways are they humans!" Freckles laughed._

You have no idea how right you are,_ thought Ciel, already annoyed with both inhuman males._

_The two younger males practiced some more though Freckles ended up watching Sebastian and Williams performing more than he was helping Ciel practices. Half of the men's practices honestly looked like a warzone. One time William actually punt each and every steel log at Sebastian, in hopes of hitting him in the face, and the bastard just merely caught and stack them back up so causally. The stack never once fell, and even now, it was still standing._

_The brown-haired boy let out a tired gust of air, "Looking at them makes me tired! I am feeling all sweaty already!" He suggested wily, "Let's go take showers to wash off the nasty stink."_

_Ciel wiped off the salty liquid from his brows, and blinked, "There's a shower here?"_

_He was pulled on his waist, and Freckles led him out, "Yeah, yeah! It's pretty cold at night, so that's why you should wash during the day!" Ciel was shown the sight of men bathing with the uses of small buckets filled with soapy water _outside_. "See?"_

_One was Dagger, who greeted them both, while drying himself. He wore only a towel on the wrist. There was that giant fire breather who paid either no minds, as he turned the bucket upside down and allowed water to pour over him. Ciel shuddered physically once he saw that, right in the _winter-cold air_._

_Freckles held up a bucket of water, "Come on, take off your clothes! I will do your back!"_

_Ciel choked, "You bathe outside, in the cold?!" _

_"Yes...?" Freckles simply smiled._

_"And is that cold water?!" Ciel's voice was strangled._

_"Yup!" He saw nothing wrong with it, and started to pull a scarf off of Ciel, "C'mon! If you are fast and dry off fast, you'll be fine! They said nobles swim in the cold for health!" Freckles encouraged._

_Ciel pulled away, almost choking himself in the exchange, "I decline! I decline!" He shrieked, he wholly did not want to take a shower in such a horrid weather. _

_Dagger laughed, "They're funny." The giant shook his head at the clownish display and his serious eyes narrowed farther in disapproval. _

_"Oh, c'mon! Don't be so shy!" The bucket was placed down, and Freckles started to pull on the boy's clothes._

_Ciel shook his head, "I am not being shy! Get away from me!" He struggled against the older boy's advantages, clutching his clothes in an attempt to keep them on. He felt the back of his shoes hitting a water-filled bucket, and with a push from Freckles..._

_Ciel fell. The bucket tilted. He grabbed on Freckles' shirt, pulling him down with him. The bucket flipped up._

_They hit the ground. More buckets fell over, from limbs hitting them, splashing and dumping them with water. Ciel hissed from the cold, and saw that Freckles was hovering over him, dripping water._

_"Aww, bloody heck, look what you just did! Got me wet!" Freckles grumbled, splashing water off from his wrist, "Well then, you're wet too, so take them off!" _

_Ciel protested, clutching his clothes down from being peeled up. The older boy somehow had Ciel on his chest during the struggle, "Get off of me!" Ciel hissed sharply, a hand instinctively held on a spot of his skin he was ashamed of on his back._

_"You will catch a cold!" Freckles insisted, fingers grabbed the edges of the boy's shirt._

_Ciel shrieked. He finally was silent when he felt the coolness of air biting into the skin of his back when Freckles pulled up the wet cloth. He revealed the horrible secret on his skin._

_There was a scar of a brand once hot-red pressed into his skin. It looked like it contained two entwining snakes wrapped around a pole within a circle, like the caduceus, the famous symbol of medicines, but without wings._

_"Let go of me!" The younger boy shrieked. He bolted away from underneath Freckles, deeply ashamed of the secret he harbored on his skin. Freckles was screaming after him. Dagger was in shock at what just happened, and the giant's head shook again, not happy._

_In the midst of Freckles' screaming Ciel heard what the tattooed man said loud and clear, "You should have respect his choice, than to force him to do what he doesn't want to do." Ciel only ran faster._

"And, I ended up here." Ciel murmured. Of course Kagome doesn't know of the scar, only that he doesn't want _something_ to be seen.

Kagome frowned, rubbing her neck again, "It is...hard to keep a secret. Secrets are something to exploited, no matter how much we wish to keep them buried." Ciel heard her sigh, her tone setting in, "Nonetheless, a promise is a promise. What do you wish to know?"

"Tell me why you are here." Ciel simply said. He ignored her comment on the secrets.

Kagome hummed, "Fair enough." She shifted toward him, "Joker reached out to me through a phone call when few of his crew were injured."

_A loud squeal of phone ringing interrupted Kagome's reading from its' small table in an corner. She gave an annoyed look and huffed quietly, returning to her study. A flurry of movement informed her of Shippou already reaching for the telephone, and his voice greeted into the small machine._

_"Hello, this is the Higurashi household, this is the butler speaking. How may I help you?" Shippou greeted politely and sternly. Kagome's ears perked for any voice, but found that she couldn't hear the caller. She shrugged, and forced herself to read the rarest and the newest publication on the religions and the connections to each other._

_The butler hummed, "No, I'm afraid that Mr. Higurashi was away for a time being." His tone gave a familiar edge, and Kagome shut the book almost loudly. She laid it aside on her seat, folded her hands on her laps, and looked expectantly at the man._

_"Yes, milady is available for consulting..." A furrow of eyebrows gave another sign, and Kagome stood up and approached her butler. At the close proximity, she can hear the caller clearly._

_The male voice sounded young, but mature, yet with an almost childish edge to it. Kagome decided him to be a prankster sort-he did sound like Shippou, when he's in a good mood, "Ah don't like to ask a young ma'am for help-but we're desperate. The situation is not gettin' better."_

_Shippou's lips were flat, "I can tell by your voice. Tell me of whom you are and the situation and we will go from there." Kagome knew at his effort to keep in a joke over the strange accent the caller had._

_"Oh, sorry. Ah'm Joker, of the Noah Ark Circus traveling trope. Few of mah crew were gettin' hurt by some bloody ghosties, and ah need to have this stopped." A pause, and the girl couldn't hear it clearly, but there were background voices sounded as if arguing. _

_Shippou's face turned flat, and cupped the bottom receiver of the phone, "A woman disagreed with the consultation, and was scorning the gentleman for it," He told Kagome plainly, "with uses of foul language, may I add."_

_The lady snorted at this._

_They didn't need to wait long._

_"Oh, wow, um, ah'm sorry ye had to hear that, sir butler," Joker apologized sincerely, "but yeah, few of mah crews got hurt real bad. Had to laid off one temporarily for recovery, because his back was cracked bad. One of mah sisters can't walk no more for a while, and just yesterday, had a brother got a bad scratch on a hand." The male sighed, "Never saw this damned son of the bitch ghostie mahself, but people are gettin' too frightened to work now. Ah can't have that."_

_Shippou glanced at Kagome, who shrugged in return, and sounded as if he sympathized with the man, "Sorry to hear that. Any possible depiction for this spirit?"_

_"Ah have no clue, but, mah little Wendy said it was a girl in white, looking all wet and weird-like. That's all ah know." The caller replied, the worry peaked in his voice._

_"Very well. I will see if my lady is willing to consult with you in person. Give me your current location, considering that it's a circus, and a way to contact you if possible." Shippou pulled out a notepad and a pen, the phone in between his ear and the shoulder._

_Joker agreeably gave the address and pleaded farther, "And please! Help us, and soon!" _

_Shippou smiled deviously, "Worry not, we will get in touch with you." He hummed, remembering something a-missed, "I do have one question for you."_

_"Yes?"_

_"How do you find out the Lady Exorcist's number?"_

_Joker was silent for a moment, "It was a referral, ah think...Someone gave me this, and ah really need to get rid of this bloody bastard as soon as possible."_

_"Very well. We will need to discuss the payment as well, and I am assuming you don't mind...?" Shippou rose an brow. An circus doesn't usually have a high amount of money in start with._

_The man laughed from the other side, "Don't worry about it! Ah will pay the half and the rest later. Ah don't care, as long mah people are safe."_

_Shippou approved, and bid his farewell. He hang up, and moved to the girl, "Well, now, look like we got a case. Interested?"_

_Kagome crossed her arms, mused out loud, "Never had one on a circus."_

_"Let's get ready then!"_

_"One question-where do they get a working telephone?" Kagome was curious, while she began following Shippou._

_The man suggested, "They could have borrow one, or has a radio phone. Technology is improving every day, as I am sure you are aware." He gathered his little missus' items._

_Kagome nodded, understanding, "We'll visit the Undertaker." Her voice dropped at the mention of the name, and she kept in a sneer. Shippou sympathized. _

"...One had a rib broken from an impact from, what they claimed, a small girl." Kagome explained, after remembering the conversation.

Ciel rose an brow.

"She disappeared right after that, into, according to them, wisps of white smoke. They didn't get a good look at her." Kagome brushed Damien's face with a thumb, "They never had any physical harm prior before that, just multiple sightings." She pointed to her coat, "There are few newspaper articles within right pocket inside the coat. It is rather...biased, but it will tell you more of the situation."

Ciel pulled out a small stack of articles and ran his eye over them. He can feel more materials within her coat, but out of the respect, he didn't touch or ask about them. Most of the columns based on the circus were rather short and small, but explained most on the strange sightings of an indescribable young child and how the circus refused to answer the questions, "That's not much information." He eyed the articles, "I would have imagine that if one have sightings, they would have been more concerned. But instead, they chose to ignore this?" He pocketed the papers back to its' original spot.

Kagome nodded, "Yes. Even citizens had witnessed such sightings. Strangely however, only those who were harmed in the circus were of the main cast. One was currently out of commission, so I believed he is absent as of now." She paused briefly, for a breath, before continuing, "Since then, the sightings grew more frequent and more aggressive. A young man named Dagger was injured and I believed a young girl sprained her ankle and experienced an extreme harm to her knee while fleeing from a spirit. She may not walk for a long while. Just yesterday, they frightened a man who was serving cotton candy almost half to death. Shippou had to take him to the doctor."

Ciel frowned, _Well, no wonder Joker went so far to hire an exorcist._

"Doesn't it struck you anything though? It was so strange to have you come looking for children when the sightings were claims of children showing themselves to the circus and just now physically harming people?" Kagome questioned, wanting to know what Ciel think of this.

He agreed, "It does. They are connected, are they not?"

Kagome's eyes lightened at his intelligence, "Correct. I can see and hear them even now."

Ciel gave a look, "Can you truly?"

"Yes. That was why I am an exorcist even at such an early age. I was born with this..._gift_." The word sounded loathed from her tongue, "However, there are so many of them that I cannot understand them, so I can only rely on my eyes instead. And even then they refused to show themselves to me." It was bothering her that they didn't want to reach out to her.

She can offer them their salvation, yet they refused.

Why?

Ciel blinked, "Why won't they show themselves?"

Her head shook, frowning, "It never happened to me before. From what I hear though, they wanted something from this place, and I do not know what it is." The voices were too grumbled to be understood.

The boy frowned, absently burying his nose into her coat in thoughts, "So, could the circus harm the children then?"

Kagome shrugged, "It is possible. Unfortunately all I have are speculations due to the fact that I cannot understand the spirits here. I do know that whoever that harmed the spirits had broken them so thoroughly they were already dead within while alive."

Ciel paled at this, "Wait, even if the children are alive-"

"They would already be dead either ways." Kagome finished for him, "There will be no point trying to save them. All one can do, was to let them go to the afterlife."

The boy cursed internally.

"Don't act on my words, Ciel." Kagome warned, "I am just the exorcist. I only seek the answers for the safety of everyone involved, dead included. But, I cannot invade one's tent without permissions. You, however, need proof, to have your answers solid, and fulfill the promises to those higher than you." _The damned Queen._

He nodded, "I know, but your words gave me a direction of where I can focus on. That's the more of the reasons to remain into this place." Ciel added, "I do have more questions."

Kagome eyed him, curious.

"Why did you visit the Undertaker?"

She huffed, "To see whether if he ever receives a body of any missing children. It was just to have more connections to the circus, and a better idea of how, why, and where they died." Kagome shut her eyes, "It's always good to be prepared, before visiting the client."

Ciel frowned, "You had to make him laugh? I would like to ask how."

"Please don't ask. That man had a skewed sense of humor." Kagome shuddered from the memory.

"I supposed you still did not understand the reasoning behind the violence then?" Ciel rubbed the fabric in the hands.

Kagome tilted her head in negative, "Only speculations, only speculations. I am not telling you what I think, in case you will be swayed." She sighed.

"Very well." That's the end of the discussion, "What do you need of me to help you?"

Kagome hummed, "Find me the answers. Any answer. The children's ghosts are getting more violent by passing minute. Once I have an answer, I can sway them onto a path to their salvation." _I can only do so much with the warding._

Ciel nodded, "I will help."

"Thank you." Kagome rubbed her neck, "You should get out of the cold, I kept you long enough." She moved off from the crate, the two Cats migrated to her neck.

Both butlers appeared behind their respective employer. Sebastian's eyes flashed red at the small lady, while Shippou glared at the boy master, unhappy with his mistress communicating with the boy he did not approved of. Ciel removed the coat and handed it to her, "Thank you for letting me borrow it." He missed the smell already, as odd as it sounded.

Kagome nodded, when Shippou took it instead. He draped it over an arm, for a time being. His face was straight, blank, and it unnerved Ciel. Absentmindedly, he shifted to move his hidden scar out of the man's probing eyes. It felt like the redhead butler can see through anything, to spot a flaw.

"We'll be going now." Shippou bit out.

"I will contact you should I find anything for you, Lady Kagome." Ciel affirmed, vowed to keep the promise he made with her. Shippou twitched slight at that, but said nothing.

Kagome curtsied to him, before turning away. Her butler followed.

_She didn't speak anymore. Could it be that she knew her butler was not happy with her? Overprotective bastard. _Ciel shut his eye, and mentally shook the thought away. _She's a confusing, moody girl, that one._

Sebastian chuckled at Ciel's appearance, "You'll catch a cold." He gestured to move to an area more secured, as he had a stack of dry clothing in his arms. Ciel followed, wanting to get dry as soon as possible. The coat added on the fleece blanket helped to stay warm, but it could only do so much.

Ciel spat out, "We must get this case solved and soon!"

"My, my...why so?" Sebastian smiled deviously, unfolding the clothes once they arrived in a more secured place.

Ciel narrowed his eye, and stripped away the wet clothes for the dry, "I just want to get out of this horrible place, as soon as possible. I am going mad and am at my wits' end."

"So, are you giving up?" The tone had a tinge of amusement, and it annoyed Ciel.

"No." He glared, as he pulled on the dry shirt, "I do not wish to bid my leisure time in such a place like this. We must find the answers soon." Ciel thought of what the girl told him, "We only need to look into the tents of first strings members, and then shall we depart."

Sebastian nodded, "Yes, sir." He pushed the buttons over.

Ciel sighed, moving his head to a side to allowed his butler to fold down the collar at the appropriate angle, "I thought to aim myself to be promoted," He twitched, "but I find that it will take more time than necessary."

Sebastian resisted chuckling at his master's lack of skills. but nodded in agreement, "The grim reaper was in my way as well." He admitted, pulling open a pant for the boy to step in, "He refused to allow me to 'wander' at the night time." _And there was this nosy red thing as well, but I do not think the master need to know of his identity _just_ yet._ The boy would be displeased to hear that he was off 'slacking' instead of something more favorable, like investigating.

Ciel was honestly too clever sometimes. He will put two to two together, considering the fact that both butlers appeared at the same time.

"It looked as if forcing our way will be the easiest approach." The boy rubbed his hair dry with a towel given from the older male, "We will snoop once the performers leave their tents alone...Even if the reaper and the lady exorcist are around, this may not mean the first strings are guilty. Just lay low for now." Ciel told the butler, his voice was firm, while he was patting his face dry from any lingering water, "If only I can get rid of the freckled-face...It would be fruitless if he continued to be clingy."

Sebastian nodded, accepting the order, "Yes, sir." Curiosity was a stronger foe than he expected, Sebastian couldn't help but to ask, "May I ask what of you and the Lady Exorcist were discussing?" He was curious, the fresh towel was given to the boy.

"Only speculations, only speculations." Sebastian frowned at the answer. He quietly cursed the red thing for dulling his senses in the first place.

Ciel exhaled, the sound of tiredness was bold, "I am looking forward for a hot tea in my own manor."

"I will have them ready for you once we return, sir." Sebastian hummed.

"Ah, also..." Ciel turned to the butler, "I strongly advised against you meeting the girl on your own ever again. I do not know what it is that you did, but you did something." He accused, "Count your blessings that I do not know what it is." The boy wasn't happy.

_Oh, bloody prick!_

**THELOVELESS**

Shippou frowned at the new smell in his little mistress' coat. "That boy sure had a bitter smell to him."

Kagome frowned, "Please let me have that back. I am actually a bit chilly."

"Not with this horrid smell you are not." Shippou jolted back, offended, "I will let you have my coat instead." He moved to push his jacket off.

She stopped him, "Shippou, do you even realize...how big you are? I do not think I'd be comfortable dragging your heavy jacket around." She was annoyed, "This smell be damned, just let me have my bloody coat back." Lilith cringed at her tone, while Damien stared at the butler, flashing the shark-like teeth in warnings.

The butler frowned, but concurred by placing the fabric back onto the lady's small shoulders. She accepted it, eager for warmth. The Cats then disappeared within the blackness of her coat.

"Never had I had to speak to so many strangers..." Kagome murmured, her muscles already stiff. She found it stressful, and she doesn't cope well with stress. She cringed again.

Kagome moved away, her body language informed him of pending investigation with the lurking spirits. Shippou exhaled, his nose wrinkled at the smell of the bitterness that refused to leave the sweetness.

_I may need to wash it at least three times to get that _filth_ out._

* * *

><p>(*1) It was never stated that Freckles already told Ciel his name in the beginning, so Ciel called him as Freckled-Face as an nickname in the manga. I just made it so Ciel could call him something more solid, I guess.<p>

Happy (belated) birthday to me! Everyone get an update as an present! Reviews and criticisms will be nice gifts~

Anyway...Eh, not my best chapter. Gave my hand into making an action scene though, and I think I did decent. What do you think? Hopefully it will make up for the lack of supernatural actions. The word count are about the same as the last chapter, so the length should make up for slow updates too. Would like to blame it on taking time with manga though, bleh. It's actually take a lot longer if you attempt to transfer the manga into an novel, you know.

You got a deeper look into Kagome's personality! Sorry if she doesn't make sense wholly. Her history and her family will bring the whole light to it, I think. If all else fails, I can always go back and edit all over again, to make it fit. No biggie.

Fun fact, Kagome had several nervous ticks throughout this chapter. See if you can spot them! One of them are a major one, something Ciel will probably exploit for his own benefits once he figures it out, haha!

**Please review if you can and all ****criticisms**** are welcomed!**

(11.19.13) Slightly edited from few typoes found, and added tiny teeny parts to it.


	13. ATTENTION! LADY EXORCIST IS NOW POSTED!

Hello, dear readers!

Due to the frequent server failures on Christmas Day, I am not sure if any one of you received an notice or is able to leave a response at all (much less favoriting or following). Now that ffnet got itself together and working again...(for now).

I am excited to inform you that I recently posted **_Lady Exorcist_**, the promised rebooted version of _The Loveless_!

Please give it a read and if you can, leave a feedback! Reviews are very nice to have, and is definitely what I preferred to get, but favoriting and following is good too! Please don't forget to do one, two, or all of these, if you can. (If servers failed again, please try again later, if you are able to?)

**Criticisms** are very much welcomed too. I need to know if it is too long, too confusing, or what, grammar aside (I am always accepting volunteers to be my editor(s)!).

I set myself a goal to write a thousand words a week, so _hopefully_ you all should be able to get an update once a month. I don't think I can update more than that considering the length of the first chapter (it's 12k words!). All chapters in **_Lady Exorcist_** have a set standard length, which is minimum 5k words.

If any one of you have a question, please feel free to ask (in review or PM) and I will get back to you as soon as possible! I am always happy to interact with my dear readers~

Thank you so much for all of your supports and I hope you all will still be my dear readers, and stay for **_Lady Exorcist_** from there on!

Have a great New Year!

-BP

PS. No means to disrespect the rules of ffnet but I will leave this note up there, until I get a warning from an admin to remove it. I sincerely hope this is okay!

PPS. I update my profile fairly often with news, story progresses and such, so if you like, check it once a while too~


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